tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711894.post8933032907393933340..comments2023-08-03T11:16:11.202-04:00Comments on Got Boondoggle?: Toyota Releases Temp WorkersMike Wroblewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03451872136821100772noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711894.post-77003459982192716582007-12-24T16:46:00.000-05:002007-12-24T16:46:00.000-05:00Cannot speak as to the training the temp works at ...Cannot speak as to the training the temp works at TMMI receive, but in at TMMK, temps working for TMMK via Precision Staffing receive extensive training upon being hired, then throughout the next 24 months.Training is extensive, tested, focused on TPS. Passing is required, attendance is required. The training, is more extensive than most of the TMMK employees have received. 90 days after I started I had already completed the Quality Circle Leaders course,was active in a QC and now w/less than a year, lead a QC. The expectation IS that, if attendance and quality are met, and TMMK, through growth/attrition, is in need of new hires, you will be offered a job. There does seem to be a habit of allowing a temp to work out the full 2yrs, then not offered a job due to attendance, quality issues, which causes one to question why they were kept on for so long. Temps meet a higher attendance requirement than TMMK employees, and overall, as a team are better motivated I believe. The view you see on the tram while on tour is nothing like the internal workings w/in the plant. It is not one large happy family. Sadly, the lack of really embracing TPS plant wide. I understand Toyota, and any other corp. using temps, but it IS simply a play on words to say Toyota has not layed off since 1930's. I believe the company, TPS is the ONLY way to succeed in business, it really is a way of life...just not in America, not at TMMK. The expectation is TMMK will always be there, something is owed to the worker, the results in quality dropping reflect this problem. Temps are groomed for the long term, to succeed, to execute TPS...and to have a chance to be hired. So while one can argue 'they' knew at TMMI it was a 'temporary' position, I believe the atmosphere, the trend, the unstated intentions, but the stated actions of Toyota was to one day make these temps employees. Where else can you replace your attrition w/someone w/years of experience, already one the job for you? Right now, a temp at TMMK will go through a min of 24 months as a temp, complete all the training modules regarding TPS, have worked in multiple jobs (in fact will do job rotations that TMMK employees do NOT do because of ergo concerns), THEN, if offered a job and hired go through 6 more months of probation. As a temp, it is not a bad deal. For those seeking long term employment and a future, it is a very slow, walking on eggs process.It can be a win-win for both company and the temp, but the does than their share of investing into Toyota. Toyota is a great company, doing what a company does in a free market to profit, time will tell if we can adjust to it here in America, LONG term, not just a couple of decades, which in Japanese cultural is not even a grain of sand. For Rob, no they cannot say they were employed by Toyota on a resume. Not directly. Still a temp, jumping from job to job. Not sure how many temps left working w/in TMMI, but for those TMMI employees....for every temp not there, someone is a little closer to the door when harder times creep into the auto manufacturing business. We all hope it doesn't continue its down turn.<BR/>FYI, we were all called into a meeting when the TMMI layoff was announced, and the opinion here is that the Camery will continue to float TMMK well into the future. Perhaps, but the Suburu plant in IN has scored higher in quality...that should concern all of us at TMMK...but doesn't. Thank you, MiyagiUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17142420461496057771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711894.post-29756725520370505462007-08-27T12:49:00.000-04:002007-08-27T12:49:00.000-04:00Just a quick note. I worked for PMI and we were hi...Just a quick note. I worked for PMI and we were hired on as a variable work force. Infact it was stressed by Toyota management that we were not to be called Temps. <BR/><BR/>we were told that there was a good chance of being hired in as a Toyota team member.<BR/><BR/>We were also not just there for 60 days alot of us had more then two years in that role. Some of the pmi workers had more then three years invested with Toyota.<BR/><BR/>thanks I just wanted to give you a little more insight to your blog.<BR/><BR/>Shayne.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711894.post-12941309517808987652007-05-01T20:55:00.000-04:002007-05-01T20:55:00.000-04:00I'd much rather be employed as a temporary (contin...I'd much rather be employed as a temporary (contingent) worker than think I have a job and have it pulled out from under me. Everyone understands the commitment's limits. It's still common practice in IT, where you can tell things are bad because all the contractors are gone. But their companies want to keep them billable, so have a vested interest in placing them somewhere else. We can't be afraid of a flexible workforce, because things change for the worse or the better.<BR/><BR/>Yes, when you have kids, a dog, a boat and a mortgage, it can be very uncomfortable. That's when respectful help finding another place is important.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06463767332463542390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711894.post-30669020430455938112007-05-01T12:14:00.000-04:002007-05-01T12:14:00.000-04:00Respect for people is certainly an important princ...Respect for people is certainly an important principle of the Toyota Way: as is the concept of quasi-lifetime employment. <BR/><BR/>"Workers become employed right after their graduation from school with a particular company. The employer will not lay off his workers if possible even in the course of depression . The employee in turn will not quit his job at this company but tend to continue working there until he reaches his retirement age ." <BR/>Kazutoshi Koshiro is a professor. Faculty of Economics. Yokohama National University . Yokohama. Japan.<BR/><BR/>* Retirement age is somewhere between 55 and 60.<BR/><BR/>I think that perhaps these temporary works believed that as things have been going so well for Toyota in recent years they began to feel like full-timers. However, surely Toyota made it clear that the jobs were temporary? At least they can say that they were employed by an organisation with some of the most exacting standards of quality in the world now. That's got to look good on a resume!<BR/><BR/>Robroberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07965141789034116201noreply@blogger.com