UPS laying off Technical hourly employees

[Dfigtree]

All eight of our help desks are being outsourced to a company in Las Vegas. When you call you will get someone that probably won't speak English and will not know that much about a UPS Center. Heck, they probably will have never set foot in a UPS Building. Good move Mike Eskew. You talk about how technology is the key to the company's success, but you will send technicians with 10+ years of UPS experience packing. Good luck. FedEX stock is about $30 higher than UPS now and I can see that gap getting larger.

Who set up those LV help desks anyway? An ISer, or maybe a wide bodied ISer.
But as for speaking English, you can always marque uno. I know what your thinking, if we had a wall between the US and Mexico ... Who do you think is going to build that wall. Illegal aliens?

 

[ImpactedTSG]

Who set up those LV help desks anyway?

I thought it was princess leah??

 

[ncrtscisme]

I swear I read these posts and I think you guys all must be from R02. Either that or we all just had the same experiences there. We truly were treated all the same regardless of ability. I couldnt be happier that I left.

Yes, I believe at least a few people here are from R02! Including myself.

SeniorGeek, I was also expecting to hear about the whole place going berserk without as much TSG...but just wait and give it more time for things to take effect. I agree with you about the job thing, I think I'm a decent tech but finding a new job is tough so I probably should have taught myself more. Most of the good jobs out there seem to be for more "specialized" techs, such as database experts and programmers. Finding a job (a GOOD job, as in more than $13/hr with a decent company and not a contract position) as a general PC support tech is quite a task.

 

[SeniorGeek]

Among the things ncrtscisme said were...

SeniorGeek, I was also expecting to hear about the whole place going berserk without as much TSG...but just wait and give it more time for things to take effect.

I consider it likely that there will be more reductions, and it may reach the berserk point. But I think this may be like boiling a frog.
I do not envy those who will have to make things work with miniscule staffing. It will be like working in a Package Division!

I agree with you about the job thing, I think I'm a decent tech but finding a new job is tough so I probably should have taught myself more. Most of the good jobs out there seem to be for more "specialized" techs, such as database experts and programmers. Finding a job (a GOOD job, as in more than $13/hr with a decent company and not a contract position) as a general PC support tech is quite a task.

I think that sizeable employers look for expertise in specific areas. The people with fairly specific certifications (such as a Cisco or Microsoft certification) seemed to find jobs quickly.

I am a lucky exception - I am a generalist, the only cert I had was A+ and I found employment quickly. But I am now a Manager, so I really do have to have some understanding of all our IS stuff. My UPS experience has helped: my Director has been impressed when I talk to our Telecom vendor in telecom vernacular and when I know more about OS/2 than the vendor's Tech. [Yes, I said "OS/2". It lives on!]

Though employers seldom put much value on it when hiring, the wide range of cross-discipline experience gained at UPS comes in handy - for example, our landlord's telecom people, working with the PBX vendor, could not solve a periodic reboot on our satellite PBX (that happened during my employer's Board meetings, every 2nd Friday). From my UPS experience, I recalled a server that used to reboot unexpectedly but regularly...and that APC power supplies perform a self test every 14 days.

In any company large enough to have a professional HR person, you will need the certification (and/or degree, previous job title, experience with specific brand name products, etc.) to stay out of the reject pile. Or know somebody.

That leads me to "talking to people" as a better job-finding strategy than responding to advertised listings. My wife was complain, um, mentioning my impending lack-of-employment to everyone who would even pretend to listen. One asked for my resumé, which he forwarded. The great job I now have was never advertised. The company I am with is small and did not even create a job title until they decided to hire me. They had relied on word-of-mouth referrals and had a few candidates.

 

[just "the boy"]

Heard from a tech in a different district that PFS is upgraded strictly without TSG from here on out. Apparently they have been testing this at select sites around the country over the last few weeks. Corporate remotes into the servers to do the upgrade, the OMS pushes the upgrade through OPIE off the SPC and reboots the UDCs.

Anyone able to confirm or elaborate on this?

 

[BrownBlackandBlue]

Heard from a tech in a different district that PFS is upgraded strictly without TSG from here on out. Apparently they have been testing this at select sites around the country over the last few weeks. Corporate remotes into the servers to do the upgrade, the OMS pushes the upgrade through OPIE off the SPC and reboots the UDCs.

Anyone able to confirm or elaborate on this?

It's true. The PDS is doing the pushing.

 

[ImpactedTSG]

It's true. The PDS is doing the pushing.

Probably a software GPO in AD. All you need to do is create and MSI file and anything can be rolled out based on OU assignment. Remember the big push for naming standards? Now just DSQuery to find a PC name that contains UCA for example and roll out changes via GPOs. Bingo all PAS workstations get the update with zero TSG intervention.

 

[Rainman1]

Heard from a tech in a different district that PFS is upgraded strictly without TSG from here on out. Apparently they have been testing this at select sites around the country over the last few weeks. Corporate remotes into the servers to do the upgrade, the OMS pushes the upgrade through OPIE off the SPC and reboots the UDCs.

Anyone able to confirm or elaborate on this?

IE has been doing it in 06/71, but as far as I can tell, the only application being upgraded is UDC, which can be done by anyone. Contrary to what IE is telling us, PAS itself has not changed. For that matter, in this area only members of gg_R06D71_Adm are able to log in to OPIE.

 

[brownblood]

You are right rainman. In all of the 06 region the update/upgrade is being done by the COF team. In 71 the COF team is in the process of doing the upgrade as of last week.

 

[BrownUndyStain]

Has anyone seen the specialist being trimmed down to just one in their districts? I've heard through the vine that it's a country wide change.

 

[ImpactedTSG]

Has anyone seen the specialist being trimmed down to just one in their districts? I've heard through the vine that it's a country wide change.

A year ago there were none in our district.

 

[sea1sux]

Has anyone seen the specialist being trimmed down to just one in their districts? I've heard through the vine that it's a country wide change.

A TSG specialist???
We have always been told that such an animal didn't exist! We did have one for about a month years ago, but they moved him on so quick most people never even knew he was there.

Our district has promoted 3 techs this year, and it doesn't look like they will be replaced.

 

[Sammie]

Anyone working anywhere hopefully has enough sense to realize that companies add and eliminate jobs as they see fit.

a) tell me why we should keep 400 jobs if we don't believe we need them.

Because once it's started, this money saving quest the company is on won't stop, that's why.

I always believed in the old adage "If it ain't broken, don't fix it".

So WHY is this paradigm so ignored?

Because if we change something or cut back on it or eliminate it altogether, (even though it's working like a charm,) IT WILL SAVE US MONEY. Period.

Don't forget the bang up job we did when we shot both feet off by closing the UPS phone centers and shifting the calls to the consolidated call centers. I have called these new
call centers myself when I was ready to jump out of my skin at the responses they were pulling out of their a**** for our customers.

I was again frosted to learn that many of them answer the phones for J.C. Penney on Monday, Sears on Tuesday, Visa
on Wednesday, UPS on Thursday and American Express on Friday. So of course these people are very well versed to care for our customers every need.

As far as this TSG news, it makes me sick. In my facility, they have their own offices of course, but they also constantly cruise the building to make sure everything is OK. Can't tell you how often these wandering minstrels have been lifesavers when a problem comes up and they happen to be standing right there.

WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ncrtscisme]

Thanks, Sammie!
As one of the "removed" employees, I'm glad to hear that some miss our lack of presence. I am however glad that I am no longer a UPSer, because my new job has taught me that things can get better just when they seem to be at their worst. I am pleased to say that I am no longer working for the shareholders and their greedy appetites for more $$$. I now work for a school district as a PC technician, and it is much much much much more rewarding. Pay isn't the only thing that matters.

 

[Sammie]

Thanks, Sammie!
As one of the "removed" employees, I'm glad to hear that some miss our lack of presence. I am however glad that I am no longer a UPSer, because my new job has taught me that things can get better just when they seem to be at their worst. I am pleased to say that I am no longer working for the shareholders and their greedy appetites for more $$$. I now work for a school district as a PC technician, and it is much much much much more rewarding. Pay isn't the only thing that matters.

Congrats!!!
You are all very well trained and very valuable. My worst half (feeder driver) and I were discussing this today and
wondered how saturated the market might be for your expertise. VERY glad that you found rewarding employment!!!

 

[ImpactedTSG]

Congrats!!!
You are all very well trained and very valuable.

Well trained on UPS applications such as DCS, HFCS, PAS etc. No one outside of UPS uses these things. The stuff that really matters like Cisco routers/switches/ASAs, Active Directory, GPOs, Exchange administration, etc. are only accessable to techs in Jersey or Atlanta or who knows maybe even India by now. I was lucky to have several certifications which helped me land a job. UPS technicians are actually very de-skilled compared to most IT professionals.

 

[ncrtscisme]

That is true, ImpactedTSG...I've only been working for 2 weeks and have already learned things that are new to me but considered everyday stuff to my coworkers (like Print Migrator, landesk, shared computer toolkit, etc). We were definitely kept in the dark at UPS with technology.

Thanks, Sammie! The market is quite saturated so I feel very lucky to just have a job, even though the pay is much less. Most jobs out there are for techs who are really specialized in things such as programming and .net development. After working at UPS for 6 years and doing nothing but generic tech work, I had to "downgrade" my career and along with that came the downgrade in pay.

 

[nu tech]

That is true, ImpactedTSG...I've only been working for 2 weeks and have already learned things that are new to me but considered everyday stuff to my coworkers (like Print Migrator, landesk, shared computer toolkit, etc). We were definitely kept in the dark at UPS with technology.

Thanks, Sammie! The market is quite saturated so I feel very lucky to just have a job, even though the pay is much less. Most jobs out there are for techs who are really specialized in things such as programming and .net development. After working at UPS for 6 years and doing nothing but generic tech work, I had to "downgrade" my career and along with that came the downgrade in pay.

So did you EVER think of taking the initiative of learning something on your own???

 

[ncrtscisme]

So did you EVER think of taking the initiative of learning something on your own???

A few things here and there...nothing too deep, however. I was stuck in sort of a "comfort zone" with UPS, just learning what I needed to know to do my job there and expecting to someday retire from UPS. I'm learning much more now, and it's nice to be allowed to use my brain again!

 

[gasynp]

So did you EVER think of taking the initiative of learning something on your own???

Did you say that to be rude, or just sobering?

Everyone should be responsible, in part, for their own continual education and training. However, there are several problems with "learning" a new technology on one's own.

One, nothing trumps actual use and need of a technology -- i.e., one could read every book on earth about Exchange Migrations, however, if they only have access to web-mail and Outlook in Office, it really cannot be experienced properly. Most is lost in translation.

Another issue is that while there are some people who defy the comment above and manage to learn something new without practical resources, they are doomed to forget this new knowledge without the reinforcment of using the skills and knowledge on a daily basis.

A final comment is the cost of one's education and training materials. UPS Techs just don't make enough to invest in the materials and tests for certain technologies. Add in the comments above about not having exposure (to mean, "not germane to one's job" -> "Don't need to Know"), and one can resign his/her self to just doing what is necessary to be successful in TSG -- which is, in all honesty, just showing up and trying. In TSG, 80% of success is just showing up on time.

I left UPS last year. I was considered a hotshot in my department. A year later, I am still learning things that are general and common to non-UPS IT folks. Then again, I bring a lot of other skills to the table -- coping skills, customer service skills, business skills. The irony of my TSG stay of many years is that my most valuable skills from UPS have nothing to do with my technology skills -- Go figure!

I visit this site from time to time to see how you guys are doing. I don't miss working at UPS one bit, but I do care to see how my old department, and my old peers are fairing. You cannot spend a large part of your life doing something and not have, at least, a casual curiousity.

I was say to you all to learn technology if it interests you, otherwise, just be a good employee (in spite of UPS), and you will have a foundation for being a good employee elsewhere -- if that need should arise.