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I work at MetLife in RI, so I have a little more info. About 600 jobs are being lost here. The only RI jobs left will be call center and auto insurance.
We've already been told we'll have to take a pay cut to relocate and that's if, when you apply for your own job and competing against NC residents, you get the job. So, there's no guarantee you'll be able to relocate. The NC governor promised jobs to NC residents, so many people think they won't be chosen when they reapply for their jobs.
Many of my coworkers have decades of years with Met, with the majority of us having over 20 years. The severance packages are very generous. Many of my coworkers with 25 or more years are retiring, several more are taking the severance and the smallest percentage (maybe 30%) are considering relocation.
We don't know the timelines yet, but some of us have been told we'll be there until 2015 (no firm date). I think we'll be hearing more in the next 2-3 weeks.
It's such a sad situation, since NC will be left with mostly new workers and the 20-40 years experience in RI, MA, CT, NJ, etc., will be gone. But, Met doesn't care, they just want the cheap labor and they got too much grief when the sent thousands of jobs to India over the past 5 years, so this looks better - on paper.
Yes, the taxes and costs in the Northeast are high, but we do also have great schools, which I have heard is not the same in NC.
Well there is such a broad pay range in the pay grades that metlife uses so someone in the same pay grade for years may be at the top of the range, wouldn't make sense for the company to relocate them..I am still giving an effort to relocate, but I bet I am at the lower range of my grade so we will see what happens.
Originally Posted by mb2004;Many of my coworkers have decades of years with Met, with the majority of us having over 20 years. The severance packages are very generous. Many of my coworkers with 25 or more years are retiring, several more are taking the severance and the smallest percentage [B
(maybe 30[/b]%) are considering relocation.
We don't know the timelines yet, but some of us have been told we'll be there until 2015 (no firm date). I think we'll be hearing more in the next 2-3 weeks.
It's such a sad situation, since NC will be left with mostly new workers and the 20-40 years experience in RI, MA, CT, NJ, etc., will be gone. But, Met doesn't care, they just want the cheap labor and they got too much grief when the sent thousands of jobs to India over the past 5 years, so this looks better - on paper.
.
30% is not far off normal relo rates-which hover from 1/3 (33%) to 40%. When Nissan hq came, we relocated around 40%. Most state incentive plans are capped at a minimum % local hires.
20-40 year emps = top of pay scale, high Health Insurance experience rates. One can bet your execs are more concerned too many would want to relo, not too few..hence juicy severence packages, reapplying I'm assuming from what others at Met wrote on Courant as NEW employees, which = low end of pay scales again..all designed to decrease the % who take the package.
I'm not young or a newbie, but in almost all cases, someone with 5-10 years experience is as seasoned as they will ever get, and the gap in pay b/w the 5-10 vs the 20-40 is all cost, w/o additional benefit to the corp.
So, I'd bet even as an outsider , the 20-40 year tenure thing also increased their willingness to explore other options. In short, what you are viewing as an asset is likely viewed by an employer as a liability.
ctwhitechin, I wish you luck with the job posting/relocation. I'm wishing my friends luck who do the same. I have some friends who love hot weather, so for that reason alone, they are looking forward to possibly moving to NC.
bobtn,
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobtn
30% is not far off normal relo rates-which hover from 1/3 (33%) to 40%. When Nissan hq came, we relocated around 40%. Most state incentive plans are capped at a minimum % local hires.
So, I'd bet even as an outsider , the 20-40 year tenure thing also increased their willingness to explore other options. In short, what you are viewing as an asset is likely viewed by an employer as a liability.
I agree with you completely...we seasoned employees are considered too expensive. That was made abundantly clear. (Although I can tell you most of us make nowhere near the $84k salary that was quoted in the NC news.) The years of knowledge, licenses and other experience we bring is not important to the company. For me, I'm happy to be moving on (I'm likely taking the severance). I'm still pretty young, will receive quite a handsome severance, and will try my hand at something new. I just feel worse for a lot of my coworkers, who are completely heartbroken. I've grown up with my coworkers and some of them have never worked anywhere else.
But, honestly, I cannot say too much bad about the company and for those who want a career there (relocate or new employee), it's a good place to work.
Some of you on here were complaining about services in the South such as trash collection, parks, libraries, etc.
I will say this: Up North garbage men make 100K a yr and get a full pension. The same goes for police, fire, librarians, park rangers, and the list goes on and on. I'm sure if workers in the South received that kind of salary and pension, services down here would be outstanding.
On a different note, manufacturing jobs have left the North because companies are tired of paying factory workers $50/hr plus full medical benefits to assemble a box. In the South they can pay someone $9/hr and not have to deal with a union.
You people on here complain about the South but the North is in bad shape too. All of those generous pensions they give out will come to an end someday. How can you pay hundreds of thousands of people 100K a year until they die?
ctwhitechin, I wish you luck with the job posting/relocation. I'm wishing my friends luck who do the same. I have some friends who love hot weather, so for that reason alone, they are looking forward to possibly moving to NC.
bobtn,
I agree with you completely...we seasoned employees are considered too expensive. That was made abundantly clear. (Although I can tell you most of us make nowhere near the $84k salary that was quoted in the NC news.) The years of knowledge, licenses and other experience we bring is not important to the company. For me, I'm happy to be moving on (I'm likely taking the severance). I'm still pretty young, will receive quite a handsome severance, and will try my hand at something new. I just feel worse for a lot of my coworkers, who are completely heartbroken. I've grown up with my coworkers and some of them have never worked anywhere else.
But, honestly, I cannot say too much bad about the company and for those who want a career there (relocate or new employee), it's a good place to work.
NC media has stated the 1,300 jobs going to Cory are mainly IT, median 84k, the 1,300 to Charlotte are at a median 58k. Their source would no doubt be the contracted amounts b/w Met & the state. It is the first time the Research Triangle corridor worked with Charlotte, instead of treating them as a competior, also per media reports. That would mean the median is 71k.
bobtn, well, most of my "high paid" coworkers don't make between $58k to $84k either. Yet, we've been told our salary scales are too high for the NC market, which I believe to be true. Met calls them salary scales or bands and ours are 1-2 levels higher than NC's.
The salaries reported on the news are "average"...between the low end jobs and VP/higher management. I've heard the non-management/non-IT jobs are starting in the high $20s to mid $30k-ish range in NC. They want to fill the jobs with people making about 2/3 of the Northeast workers, which I think will happen. I think if you average those salaries with much higher management salaries, you may get a median of about $58k, if you're lucky.
In my office anyway, I would guess the experienced, relocated (non-management) workers (which is the majority of the 1300 Charlotte jobs) salaries range anywhere between $40k to $60k, so paying NC workers $20k or so less than us is a huge savings for the company, especially when you count in our health care, pensions, etc. Many of us long term employees have the "old" pension plan from Met which was quite generous.
I will say this: Up North garbage men make 100K a yr and get a full pension. The same goes for police, fire, librarians, park rangers, and the list goes on and on.
Uh. What police officer, other than a chief or deputy chief, makes 100k a year? What world are you living in?
Uh. What police officer, other than a chief or deputy chief, makes 100k a year? What world are you living in?
Far too often kid. The AVERAGE in Stamford for non-officers has breached 100,000. Here is an article that makes mention to the most egregious "offenders". One non-officer in Stamford pulled down 299,000 in 2010!
Far too often kid. The AVERAGE in Stamford for non-officers has breached 100,000. Here is an article that makes mention to the most egregious "offenders". One non-officer in Stamford pulled down 299,000 in 2010!
I'm talking salaries before overtime or "extra duty". The vast majority of OT is paid for by the hiring company. Your average officer in Stamford, working midnights with differential, won't even break 70k before contractor-paid OT.
Also, because Stamford and many lower FFC towns require officers to live within ~20 miles of the department, the pay must be higher than your average town. 100k in a 20 mile radius of Stamford is far less than 100k in a 20 mile radius in Hartford.
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I've grown up with my coworkers and some of them have never worked anywhere else.
