Today's issue of the The Wichita Eagle (3/19/2014)
It was: sourced ( Ft. Worth Star Telegram). had a filler item that should be of interest to some around here..(paraphrased)
It noted that as part of the $5 Billion Dollar investment in the Railroad ( for this year :2014) was a quote from the BNSF's new president and CEO Carl Ice, on Tuesday (3/18/2014) Mr. Ice took over from Mat Rose on Jan. 1 of this year. The five thousand jobs will be added system wide, with the biggest added jobs being in Train Crews.
Tow thousand of the jobs will be "New" Hires for new positions, while Three thousand jobs will be to replace retiring employees. per company spokesman Steven Forsberg. BNCF has more than 41,000 employees.
They will also add 500 new locomotives, and will be adding the previously announced 5,000 tank cars to support the crude oild transport business, in North Dakota.
Sounds as if there will be many opportunities for careers at the BNSF.
In one paragraph it says "five thousand jobs will be added system wide" and in the next paragraph it says "two thousand of the jobs will be new hires.....while three thousand jobs will be to replace retiring employees". To me, that means only 2,000 jobs will be created, not 5,000. Whoever wrote that must be a politician or is very bad at math.
Just my opinion.
william6In one paragraph it says "five thousand jobs will be added system wide" and in the next paragraph it says "two thousand of the jobs will be new hires.....while three thousand jobs will be to replace retiring employees". To me, that means only 2,000 jobs will be created, not 5,000. Whoever wrote that must be a politician or is very bad at math.
The semantics of 'created' isn't the point here. The 3,000 people who are retiring will no longer be working for BNSF, so in a very real sense their replacements are being 'added' as new employees. So if 'job' is interpreted as 'employment opportunity' (which is, I think, the semantic sense being meant here) then yes, there are 5,000 new opportunities that will be provided system-wide.
I would agree with you that BNSF may have carefully chosen their words to make it seem as if 5,000 brand-new positions were being created, rather than 5,000 new people being given paychecks. But they do qualify the statement themselves, and in a short time, too. And it is clear (at least to me) what they mean by 'job' in context. At any rate, their math is not defective.
diningcarWilliam6, would you consider the 3000 to be "lost" if they were not replaced?? The fact is that there will be 5000 jobs available to persons who do not now have them. I feel certain that any who apply for these 5000 positions considers it to be an opportunity that was not previously available. Why try to put a negative spin on this news?
I think Diningcar's point is exactly the way it should be taken...
With 3,000 Retirees leaving their workforce, BNSF will need to replace those jobs, so they will, and each "New Hire" will come aboard with a new set of benefits, work rules, and most importantly, their own DATE of Seniority. Add to that the creation of an additional 2,000 entirely new positions, to increase their total number of BNSF Employees, by that number; up from the current 41,000 reported jobs at BNSF; to a new total of 46,000 BNSF employees. Critical across the board to each individual; will be each individual's date of Seniority (Hire Date), and the role that number will play, as long as that person is on BNSF's payroll.
Hiring one person or a million people whether new or replacements is still hiring one or a million people. It is one or a million people who didn't have the jobs before. Yes it could mean that half are replacements for retirements, quits, firings, promoted, etc. And it could also mean that those hired left other jobs to join here or they could be coming off unemployment or new to the market place. The only truth is that BNSF is hiring 5000 people. It could be a net gain of only one job or even a negative of 500 for that matter.. But they will hire 5000 new people.
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BNSF had an editorial in the local paper today explaining their very good HAZMAT safety record. It was needed, too! Locals are convinced that BNSF is cutting corners for profit.
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