Nielsen Hires Habib

GOD Help all those poor people at Nielsen! The first thing that will happen is 40%+ of the domestic staff will be off shored. Next the remaining will be subjected to the Top 10/Bottom 10 so that another 10-20% quit in frustration. By that time he will have established new contracts with TCS (which he owns stock in) to provide a long-term development contract that pay's TCS a couple of hundred million up front guaranteed. Then he'll contract out all workstation technical support to Dell (which he also has a personnel involvement with). Check it out he did this at GE and Citi. Sorry for your loss.

Calhoun. Habib. In any event Nielsen Media Research no longer exists. The cuts will thin the team to the extreme. Already a senior engineer with US patents has been released. No one is safe.

Morale is low. The new org chart puts most of us in centers of excellence. This term is code-speak for a crushing micro-management. If you are faced with being in a center of excellence then run as fast as you can.

The entire company is being reorganized. Many managers have already been released from Susan Whiting's organization. We expect more next week. Mitchell Habib's cuts are expected May 14. Doomsday is May 14!

Even if you survive the initial cuts you are not safe. The initial cuts provide severance pay. Following these will be the forced ranking cuts. These people will get no severance pay. The cuts will continue monthly, indefinitely.

Who wants to work under these conditions?

Over the years I have noticed that outsiders ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATE the uniqueness of the TV ratings business. Time after time consultants underestimate and projects go so far over budget that they fail. Only the insiders can complete project execution. This time the entire company is being downsized to such an extreme that I doubt it will be able to impress the market for the promised IPO. These people are going to live to regret the mess they are making.

Sadly, Dave Calhoun and Mitchell Habib, from GE, are now turning their tricks at The Nielsen Company. It’s a shame that a profitable company must go through the cultural destruction that is imminent. Mitchell Habib has announced a ten percent layoff. The layoff has begun. Already a senior engineer with US patents and twenty five years of service has been released. No one is safe.

Morale is low and diving. Many people do not want to come in to work anymore. The new org chart puts most of us in centers of excellence. This term is code-speak for a crushing micro-management. Anyone faced with a Habib center of excellence should look for another job, else suffer the misery.

The entire company is being reorganized. IT departments are being dissolved. Many managers have already been released from Susan Whiting's organization. We expect more next week. Mitchell Habib's cuts are expected May 11 or May 14. The main thrust of the first cuts is to make room for the outsourcing to TCS and CTS in India. Already the staff has had to endure mandatory Cultural Diversity Awareness training. Of course the only culture presented was Hindu Indian. Now there are new Indians showing up in the building every day.

Even if you survive the initial cuts you are not safe. The initial cuts provide severance pay. Following these will be the cuts based upon forced ranking. These people will get no severance pay. They will be fired. The firings will continue monthly, indefinitely. I think anyone who went to business school has learned that force rankings kill off team work. Forced rankings drive staff to fend for themselves because they want someone else to get ranked in the bottom ten percent. So people are likely to withhold information and avoid helping others since the failure of a teammate helps to ensure your own job. The new GE culture is arriving at The Nielsen Company. It’s so disgusting.

Expect to see the data quality decrease. The Indians will not give a darn about Nielsen quality. They will be rotating through their assignments on to an assignment at GE or elsewhere, climbing their own ladders. Nielsen subject matter expertise will dwindle and vanish. I for one am planning to leave as soon as possible and take my unique knowledge with me. No one will force rank me! And I will not help Mitchell Habib succeed in this debacle.

Over the years I have noticed that outsiders ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATE the uniqueness of the TV ratings business. Time after time consultants underestimate and projects go far over budget and fail. Only the insiders can complete project execution. This time the entire company is being downsized and I doubt that it will impress the market for the promised IPO in three years. Dave Calhoun and Mitchell Habib are going to live to regret the mess they are making. And many loyal Nielsen people are feeling like a number, losing their loyalty and looking for the door.

I am sick of corporate America. Will this hell ever end?

God bless those at Nielson that will have their lives and careers destroyed by Habib and TCS. I've been there, done that, with Habib. I couldn't leave soon enough once this job-chopper arrived at Citi.

When Habib came to Citi, I was one of the top-scoring Lead Analysts (IV). I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Sure, they promised no layoffs for a year (until they could find the bottom people, they said). But that was just fingers in the dyke to try to keep the talent from leaking away.

After researching his history at GE, I couldn't leave fast enough. And sure enough, a couple months after he started, and after I had left, I started getting calls from my old citi friends asking if I would be a reference for them. The layoffs had begun.

I'm so sorry, Nielsen.

Last week Habib announced another 1500 layoffs. They have recently implemented a cute little time sheet program that narrows down to the hour what you do at work. How effing pathetic! Management is scambling around trying to make a policy, chastising you for following the policy, changing their minds about policies. This can be seen by the almost weekly changes in the logo we use for documents, emails, etc. They don't know wtf they are doing! LOL! Funnier yet, everyone's so stressed out that the slightest mistake gets you scrutinized and maybe written up! One guy I know was written up because he violated the company policy of not using foul language. What did he say? "Eff everyone else I'm taking the last of this cake!". I was standing right there, or actually, just walking past when I heard it. I heard him say "F". He later told me he was joking and absolutely did not say f**k, but just "F", and was written up for it. I told him with all the obscene life-destroying crap going on here, THIS is what they get upset about. I thought it was funny and ridiculous but he didn't. He's more stressed than ever now. I don't know why I stay there. Maybe I'm just curious? It certainly isn't the money!*grin*

Can someone post what is happening in Nielsen?

Whatever john indicated in the first post started happening now

The Nielsen Company is going to be sold out to TCS within 2 years if Habib will be there. He is having personal stocks in TCS and thats why whenever he was with GE and Citigroup transferred core services to TCS.
In India, he has also sold out the most profitable department of Nielsen India "EUREKA".
I got the news from one of my colleague working in Nielsen India and it is being confirmed that $3 Billions have gone to Habib's pocket in signing this deal.
People across globe should protest and stop this else one day he is going to sell out Nielsen to TCS and become the head of that entity.
God save Nielsen employees and their families from this misfortune under this notorius and cruel leader who always see the personal benefits and not for the society.

The 10% headcount reduction has occured, haven't lost my job but that is only because they can't let go of EVERYONE right away, they need to transition our jobs off onto outsourced employees.

He announced yesterday that most of IT Infrastructure will be outsourced. Currently 2 companies are currently bidding on this... one of them is suprise suprise TCS.

I work at Nielsen's FDC.
They told us in the next year we would double in size.
Someone said we are going to have layoffs too???
Chaz

Both Dave and Michelle are from GE and have planned to outsource everything in Nielsen to TCS

John Henry wrote:

GOD Help all those poor people at Nielsen! The first thing that will happen is 40%+ of the domestic staff will be off shored. Next the remaining will be subjected to the Top 10/Bottom 10 so that another 10-20% quit in frustration. By that time he will have established new contracts with TCS (which he owns stock in) to provide a long-term development contract that pay's TCS a couple of hundred million up front guaranteed. Then he'll contract out all workstation technical support to Dell (which he also has a personnel involvement with). Check it out he did this at GE and Citi. Sorry for your loss.

This is happening right now ......

In 2 weeks they will be announcing who the outsourcing company is..... this includes Finance, HR, Facilities, and IT

Just 1 Nielsen wrote:

In 2 weeks they will be announcing who the outsourcing company is..... this includes Finance, HR, Facilities, and IT

Ooh! I think I know this one!

It is I wrote:

<quoted text>
Ooh! I think I know this one!

and this is who?

It's happening right now.
Truly sad. Who can come after these ppl? It's all legal rite?

I need a new job

I hate to be redundent but you are saying the Field Distribution Center is being outsourced too?
I work there!!!!!
Chaz

Habib, hurry and get to me! This place is a disaster! Give me my severance and then go to Hell!

It is good that nielsen eureka is taken over by tcs with this there will be much discipline in the oraganization and true people will get the reward for their performance not through the politics like somebody who is doing better work then also they receive less rewards.TCS will recognize the true qualities of Employees.