If there is any doubt that one must have computer skills to participate in
today's job market, consider the example of Ford below. All employees
will be offered computers and Internet service for a very low monthly fee.
The message is subtle but clear: if you are uncomfortable with a
computer, get used to them and learn as everyone around here is expected
to be able to manage and manipulate information with them.
kelly
the New York times
February 3, 2000
Ford to Offer Workers PCs and Online Access at Low Cost
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
D ETROIT, Feb. 3 -- Ford Motor Co., the world's second-largest
automaker, wants its 350,000 employees to know how to use the
Internet and is offering them Hewlett-Packard Co. personal
computers and online access.
Employees who participate will pay $5 a month for a computer,
printer and Internet service. The plan will start in the U.S. in
the second quarter and be expanded within 12 months.
Ford seeks to improve employees' computer skills at a time when
automakers see the Internet as a way to track customer choices,
streamline production and cut costs for goods and services. The
plan also will improve relations with the United Auto Workers, said
union President Stephen Yokich.
Ford is taking the step because "the Internet will be the
equivalent of the moving assembly line in the 21st Century," said
Ford Chairman Bill Ford, whose great-grandfather pioneered the
automotive assembly line.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker didn't say how much
providers would be paid for the equipment and services.
Ford's cost after the $5 employees pay probably will be about $10
to $17 a month per worker, said Don Young, a PaineWebber Inc.
computer-industry analyst. If all workers participate, the cost
could be as much as about $71 million a year, though some employees
already have computers and others probably won't take part.
Hewlett-Packard said it expects to ship 300,000 computers and
printers for the Ford program. The world's No. 2 computer maker
declined to put a dollar value on the order.
The program is a boon for H-P and for its new chief executive,
Carly Fiorina, who has vowed to shake up the company that created
Silicon Valley.
"Obviously it's a great PR deal for H-P and Ford, but we're trying
to figure out how many actual computers they will allocate to
Ford," said John Brown, director of research at International Data
Corp., a computer-industry research firm.
A Hewlett-Packard computer with slightly more memory on the hard
drive has a list price of $649, the computer maker said. List
prices are $249 for the monitor and $149 for the printer, for a
total of about $1,050.
MCI WorldCom Inc.'s UUNET unit will provide the Internet access.
Ford will get the computer equipment and access through PeoplePC
Inc., a closely held, San Francisco-based company. The Ford
transaction is the company's largest since it was started last
October.
For $24.95 a month, PeoplePC leases a package that includes a
name-brand computer, preloaded software and unlimited Internet
access through MCI Worldcom. Ford probably will pay less than the
regular price, said Young, the PaineWebber analyst.
"We're trying to tear down the walls and boundaries that keep
information from people inside organizations," said Nick Grouf,
PeoplePC's chairman and chief executive.
Ford shares rose 1/8 to 48 3/4. Hewlett-Packard rose 3 to 113 9/16.
MCI WorldCom fell 7/8 to 44 1/8.
Ford won't monitor how employees use the computers, said Jim Yost,
Ford's chief information officer. Employees who already own
computers won't be reimbursed, though they could use the program to
add another PC, he said.
_________________________________________________________________
In contract talks last year, Ford discussed helping UAW members buy
computers and gain Internet access.
_________________________________________________________________
Employees will access the Internet through a special site that will
be customized for geographic regions and offer direct links to
company services and information, Ford said.
Workers at Visteon, the auto-parts unit that Ford wants to separate
later this year, will be eligible, as will employees at Ford's
Volvo and Jaguar units. Ford hasn't decided whether to extend the
offer to employees of Mazda Motor Corp., of which it owns 33
percent.
The Ford plan also helps improve relations with the UAW, which were
strained in contract bargaining last year because the union opposed
Ford's plan to spin off or sell Visteon. Though the two sides
reached an agreement, the dispute created tension in what had long
been good relations with the union.
Yokich, the UAW president, told reporters Monday that the union has
discussed putting computers in the homes of hourly workers at Ford
and other automakers, betting that e-mail can be used to improve
communications. In contract talks last year, Ford discussed using
personal-development program funds to help UAW members buy
computers and gain Internet access.
Yokich today called the Ford program "a tribute to the collective
bargaining process and to our solid relationship."
Earlier this week, Nate Gooden, vice president of the UAW's
DaimlerChrysler department, said he would like to see the third-
largest automaker in the U.S. offer computers to its employees.
"We're always willing to look at anything that can benefit our
workforce, but any discussions will be internal," said
DaimlerChrysler spokesman Trevor Hale.
General Motors Corp. said it doesn't have anything in its UAW
agreement about providing computers or Internet access. GM has "a
lot of electronic-commerce initiatives out there" and will continue
to look for ways to improve communications with employees, said
spokesman John Ahearne.
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