Maytag sets job cuts in restructuring

[UpInArms]

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BEB52D886%2D2B39%2D4FFC%2DB864%2DB4756F788A94%7D&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Competitive conditions remain extremely tough for Maytag, which announced Friday plans to reduce its salaried work force by 20 percent and said 2004 earnings would fall short of expectations.

On the same day that the U.S. government reported the nation's payrolls expanded by 248,000 in May, the Newton, Iowa-based appliance maker (MYG: news, chart, profile) pointed to persistent weakness in its Hoover and Maytag businesses.

Facing pricing pressures from rivals as it's sought to bring its operating costs in line, Maytag has shed thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs over the last several years.

However, management says more needs to be done. "Maytag must rapidly reduce costs and improve market execution," said CEO Ralph Hake.

<snip>

Maytag anticipates logistics and administrative headcount reductions in its appliances and headquarters divisions, while integrating Hoover with appliances will result in cuts in the size of the company's salaried work force.

...more...

[Trajan]

1. Job Cuts ? ...

JOB CUTS ?? ...

WHO the fuck is cutting jobs ? ...

Hey: the Labor Department, under the studied leadership of Miss Mitch McConnell (A well known non partisan patriot) says that we are SWIMMING in new jobs ...

We have OODLES of new jobs for the picking ! ...

We have jobs literally sweating out of our PORES ! ...

Ask the Labor Department ....

Ask a few misguided though well-meaning DUers ....

Koolaid to be found within DU, sometimes ...

Personally? I believe the job CUTS are true: I have a healthy skeptcism for Job growth as reported by the ENRON Admninistration ...

We need more of that skeptcism right here in DU ...

[Wapsie B]

2. Will the last one to leave Newton

please turn out the lights? If Maytag cuts back that's it.

[Seemann For Congress]

3. This affects my candidate's district

Jeff Seemann's district is where 20% of white-collar jobs are being removed from (made redundant, as they call it) the Hoover Company.

This is added to the 600+ union jobs that were lost earlier this yer.
Add that to the 1,300 jobs leaving when Timken closes their 3 Canton, Ohio plants.
Add that to the 800 jobs that left with Rubbermaid in Wayne County (also in the 16th District).
Add that to the hundreds os jobs lost when Fleming Foods closed last year.

Oh, and by the way. Ralph Regula, Jeff's opponent, said last week that the economy and job creation was improving, and the main first signof an economic boom was that "more people are eating at McDonald's".

Yes, he said that. Help my friend defeat this jerk. Go to http://www.jeffseemannforcongress.com now.

[jmowreader]

4. Maytag's big problem, the way I see it

Disclosure: I work for the largest Maytag reseller in the world. The following is my own opinion...

Maytag has to cut jobs not because of "pricing pressures," but because it doesn't have compelling products at all price points.

Let's look at their laundry equipment.

Maytag has three lines of equipment: Neptune, Atlantis and Maytag. Neptune is their front-loader. Atlantis is their higher-end top-loader, and Maytag is their standard-grade top-loader.

Neptune is sweet if you're into front-loaders (you should be; they use half the water of a top-loader) but the washers start in the $1200 range and the dryers start at $995. For that kind of scratch, I am going to walk you right over to the General Electric Profile Harmony system. If you buy the GE you really need both units, because there is a serial port on the back of the two appliances. Connect the serial ports with a standard nine-pin cable (which, IIRC, comes with the washer) and the washer will tell the dryer how to set itself so you get exactly the drying time and temperature you need--no more, no less.

Atlantis and Maytag both feature old-fashioned mechanical controls. This is the modern computer age--neat little touchpads are the way to go. Everyone else makes a washer that has this; GE wants lots of money for theirs, but LG (a Korean builder) puts electronic controls on everything.

We could talk about their range business for a while; you'd be justified in asking "what range business?" Maytag builds Jenn-Air, which is a well-regarded brand. It's also an expensive brand. They also build the Gemini range--two ovens, exceptional product, $879 for the cheap one and it has a coil cooktop. Trust me, a $900 range with a coil cooktop is a damn hard sale, especially when GE and everyone else in the world--yes, even Maytag--makes smoothtop ranges that cost less than $900. No Gemini should have a coil cooktop.

This is a weird market. You buy an appliance for two reasons--you don't have one, or yours broke. Generating sales is a simple matter of producing a line of equipment with unique and attractive features at various price points. Maytag has two kinds of equipment: one with unique and attractive features at a high price point, and one with "me too" features. Unless you're looking at very high-end stuff, Maytag has nothing to sell you.

Oh, and one more thing: Look at their ads. They still feature the "bored Maytag repairman." You know, our stuff is so reliable we pay a guy to stare at the wall, hint hint. The problem with this advertising methodology is that everyone else's appliances are as reliable as Maytag's now...so what else ya got? Right now, they ain't got nuthin.