Is my job at risk?

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 Tigger 08 May 2019

So Siemens is carving out it's gas and power side of the bussiness to set it up as a stand alone company whilst maintaining at 25% - 50% share. I'm a mechanical fitter on small gas turbines and this is all a bit above my head. Other than working in a dying industry, are there any immediate risks to my job? 

For reference I am trying to get jobs elsewhere but my skill set is a little niche. The immediately available jobs involve a pay cut or naff shift patterns.

Cheers

Michael

 tjdodd 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

Interesting when Siemens only purchased the Rolls-Royce energy gas turbine business 5 years ago. 

As to your question, it all depends on why Siemens is divesting the business.  Worth reading

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-siemens-power/siemens-spins-off-strugglin...

Whilst the headline says it is struggling when you read down I think it is a bit more subtle than that.  Siemens is focusing more and more on the digital future (smart infrastructure and cities, digital manufacturing etc) so the gas turbine part of the business is no longer core and therefore not receiving appropriate attention and investment.  It therefore makes sense to divest.  The fact they are keeping a significant share in the business implies they do not think it is going to die.  However, my guess is that the new company will need to make significant cost reductions moving forwards.  Whether this will affect you is difficult to say.

Going back to the Rolls-Royce comment at the start, one of the potentially big growth areas for energy gas turbines is aerospace.  The aerospace industry is making progress in making aircraft more electric and now all electric.  The likely solution is to use energy gas turbines to generate electricity that is then used to power electric fans for propulsion.  Whilst this sounds complicated it is actually a much more efficient way of burning fossil fuels.  The gas turbines can run very efficiently when used to just generate electricity and not primary thrust.  So one future area of growth is likely to be aerospace.  Not sure this helps you now though.

Where are you based?  Have you thought about retraining?  I read on the BBC yesterday about people on the east coast retraining for offshore wind.  Good reliable and well paid employment that I am sure your skill set could easily adapt to.  But you might need to move.

Hope it works out.

 MonkeyPuzzle 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

National Grid/Cadent might be a place to look for more security. Aside from their own fitters, as a client organisation they will have roles for supervisor/clerk of works type roles to oversee contract works and expertise with outside experience is valuable. No idea if they're hiring, but while there's a gas network, they'll still exist in some form or other.

 tjdodd 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

Also to say, never think your skill set is too niche.  Whilst your very specific technical skills might be niche at the moment you will have a much wider set of transferable skills.  The very fact you are working in a technically demanding area under, I assume, quite demanding health and safety regulations is actually very generic.  I am sure you could quickly retrain into the specific technical needs of different industries.

Try to brainstorm the more generic skills you have and think outside the box.  It is not easy to do but I am sure you will surprise yourself about what you can offer other industries.  I am a big fan of using skills in different areas as you develop and the new company benefits from a different perspective.  It is all about how you sell yourself.

And, don't forget the skills and mindset you have developed from being a climber.  It takes a certain determination and dedication to climb to the level you have got.  Again, it is all about how you sell this on a CV.

With all this you can easily make yourself stand out from the crowd.

I recommend getting someone else who knows you to look over your CV with a fresh pair of eyes to help draw out some of these things.

Deadeye 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

Depends who buys the other 75-50% ...and hence control.

Is it a management buy out?

Obviously no guarantees, but my hunch would be that front line workers, that earn fees or build stuff, are unlikely to be hit hard. Management would be a different story.

The exception will be if you have pissed them off - restructuring is a fab opportunity to bin annoying staff.

My only advice would be

- do a good job and don't take the piss

- have CV and applications ongoing just in case

- just take a but if extra caution with finances and especially any new commitment s until you see how it's playing out and to whom

 jkarran 08 May 2019
In reply to tjdodd:

> The aerospace industry is making progress in making aircraft more electric and now all electric.  The likely solution is to use energy gas turbines to generate electricity that is then used to power electric fans for propulsion.  Whilst this sounds complicated it is actually a much more efficient way of burning fossil fuels.  The gas turbines can run very efficiently when used to just generate electricity and not primary thrust.

Any links to papers on this? I can't think how the additional weight and mech-elec-mech losses could possibly be overcome vs the current mech-mech conversion in a modern turbofan, most of which operate under optimal conditions at steady state load for most of their lives. Engine-electric works well where you need enormous and highly controllable torque over a very wide speed range like a warship or a train but an airliner operates quite differently.

OP: sorry, no idea but I hope it works out.

jk

Post edited at 10:27
 tjdodd 08 May 2019
In reply to jkarran:

Google turbo electric distributed propulsion.  NASA has been working on this for a while and there is a lot of academic research.  I was confused how you could get the extra gains when I initially heard about this idea due to the extra layer of energy conversion.  Crudely, it is partly as both the stages of energy conversion are very efficient and partly as it will open up completely new aircraft design concepts.  The slight issue at the moment is the need for superconductors to ensure the electrical energy transmission is efficient enough.

Gas turbines are not great for producing propulsive thrust in the current guise as they are so constrained by other design considerations (including safety). 

There is a whole world of gains to be made in aircraft efficiency if we can get people to accept they are not just tubes with wings bolted on and engines bolted underneath.

Sorry OP for going off track.

 jkarran 08 May 2019
In reply to tjdodd:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20130010780.pdf Interesting read but I just don't see it happening, not in my lifetime anyway. They're chasing marginal gains with hypothetical technology and radical departures from the normal in a deeply conservative industry. One that is likely to be suffering investment difficulties over the coming decades as it struggles with emissions. I suspect they'll choose lower risk pathways to carbon-neutrality like bio-fuel in optimised, established and 'conventional' designs. 

> There is a whole world of gains to be made in aircraft efficiency if we can get people to accept they are not just tubes with wings bolted on and engines bolted underneath.

That's a big if!

> Sorry OP for going off track.

Ay, sorry.

jk

OP Tigger 08 May 2019
In reply to tjdodd:

Yea I took a similar take on that article, thanks. I can't see the gas turbine we build being used in aerospace though as we don't buold aero derivative engines in Lincoln atm. The offshore work did get my attention but I'm trying to move further inland atm (Sheffield), it's there as an option if I really need it though.

 tjdodd 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

There's a lot of engineering in and around Sheffield and continuing to grow.  Boeing, Rolls-Royce and McLaren all have factories in Sheffield now.  There is a good critical mass that keeps attracting more and more.  Keep looking and I am sure you will find something.

OP Tigger 08 May 2019
In reply to tjdodd:

Cheers, my CV recently got a refresh and I did have an interview for train bogie maintenance The process was all going well until I realised that a racist piece of sh*t who I use to work with is now the new manager there...

 Dax H 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

Generally when this type of thing happens the doers get transfered over to the new company and the managers get a bit of a culling. Hopefully this is the way it will go for you. 

I'm going to message you a name and number for a pal of mine who specialises in recruitment in the maintenance field in Yorkshire. Might be worth having a word just in case. 

OP Tigger 08 May 2019
In reply to Tigger:

Thanks folks, guess I'll just sit tight and jump ship as planned if and when an opportunity arises.


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