Good points. I'm sure they've got people looking at every angle and deciding whether the benefit is worth the risk. I think we can now say, rather than speculate, that something is actually happening, and is nationwide. Are they trying to trim the fat, so to speak, or is this the first step in a series leading to major changes in how Express operates? Will we see positive pay changes? Or will any pay improvements be offset by reductions in hours? Is all this overblown, or will Express be totally different in 12 months? Alot of questions, would be nice if they would clarify soon exactly what we can expect. If they wait until after Peak have to wonder if it's really negative news. Telling us before Peak might lose a few people. Come on FedEx, what's our future looking like?
You're speaking as if FedEx has already made announcements as to future operating plans - they haven't. Express is just now in the process of announcing that there will no longer be a performance review. Has Express announced ANYTHING else??? No, they have kept completely silent. Express won't make any public announcement of ANYTHING until it suits their needs.
And anyone that thinks that their station management will know of anything in the "wings" is sadly mistaken. Station management didn't get the email regarding the change to the review process till late Tuesday/early Wednesday of last week. Unless they had someone outside normal channels of communication telling them, they were caught completely flatfooted.
There is another thing which people still in FedEx are starting to ask about. FedEx is OBSESSIVE about merit compensation. Everything in FedEx culture has compensation directly linked to MERIT. Now, whether that measurment of merit is directly associated with ACTUAL job performance is a separate issue. So...
The $64,000 question is: "What has changed within Express to make individual merit no longer relevant towards determining pay increases for wage employees?"
So far, no one I know has been able to adequately address this question. FedEx obsesses with measurement of everything, from stops per hour, to stem times, to scan compliance - you name it, they measure it. Not only do they measure it, but they then link the performance parameters with compensation increases - till September 1, 2011. This all goes away...
There is something else going on.
You ask: "Is this the first step in a series leading to major changes...".
I think you've answered your own question. In FedEx's history, can anyone think of a time where compensation for hourly (or even most salaried) employees wasn't tied to some sort of "merit" measurement?
The only places where individual merit isn't worried about are places where the employees are deemed easily trained and replacable. In union shops, there is no individual performance review, since the labor contract more or less prohibits measuring employees separate from their workgroup. They either meet standard or they don't.
So why has Express done an "about face" and done away with "individual merit" when it comes to pay progression? All other non-wage employees are still definately under a "merit" system, why the change? There is definately something going on here - and the implications for the wage workforce aren't pretty.