Job Title: Marketing Manager
Location: Southfield, MI
Submitted on: 03-Jun-03
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Job Title |
Workplace
Survey |
| Marketing Manager |
I became an employee of Federal-Mogul after their acquisition of my
former employer. Although I had to interview for the position, I was
more or less assigned as a marketing manager to a Federal-Mogul
division.
Federal-Mogul was in the throes of reorganization, having acquired more
than 16 companies over the previous 2 years. When I arrived in mid
January 1999 they were still assembling offices and workstations.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, most of the people in the area where I
was to work had never met each other until that month, and none had a
clue about the overall plan.
I inherited four employees. One of the analysts was from one of the
acquired companies and, due to the ongoing reorganization, still worked
in another city, two states away. Two came from different companies and
had never worked together (nor did they share any common systems,
procedures or histories). The remote analysts quit within 6 weeks.
Just as I had a replacement hired, the other one gave notice. At that
point a hiring freeze was put in place.
Some of Federal-Mogul acquisitions had manufactured products containing
asbestos prior to being acquired (most notably T&N and, to some extent,
my previous employer). As a result of this, as well as some other
issues, Federal-Mogul started having financial problems in mid-1999 and
started culling the acquired companies'employees - beginning with the
experienced (and highly compensated) executives. The president of F-M
at that time (who had been the EVP of an acquired company) was the first
eliminated. (Most of the T&N people had already left or been
terminated.) They continued down the food chain firing the core
personnel of the acquired companies during successive months. There was
a "holiday purge" at the end of the year - which ended my "career" with
Federal-Mogul.
Federal-Mogul "circled the drain" for a number of months thereafter
before succumbing to chapter 11 bankruptcy. The now famous asbestos
liability resulting from the acquired companies has been credited with
eventually bringing them to this point. What has never been explained
is how the asbestos liability escaped the due diligence done prior to
F-M's acquisition of these companies.
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