Dear Kellogg’s employees,
On the Kellogg’s website, it says,
“With every morning comes a new beginning. It is an opportunity for all of us to realize the potential of the day. And when we start the morning right, there’s no end to what each day can bring.”
This was never so true as yesterday when a collective gasp went up on your behalf over the city as we heard of the closure of the London location. “How can this be? Kellogg’s?” was asked around water coolers and pre-Christmas lunches city-wide, there truly was no end to what the day could bring.
Kellogg’s, which to most of us conjures up images of school trips we took in elementary school, then later sent our kids on, hearing our own voices echoing in our ears as they came home to tell us, “we had to walk between the lines on the factory floor” and “we got little boxes of cereal at the end of the tour.” “It smelled funny.”
Kellogg’s, a name that rolls off our tongues as we tell people about doing business in our city. How can this be?
Quickly though our thoughts went from our memories to a deep concern for you – 500 of you plus 110 of you who were laid off last month. We never really thought of you before, but now, two weeks before Christmas, jobs ending, we feel like we know you. You, who are raising young families or reaching the ends of your careers, some of you who are sick or supporting those who are ill. People just like us with children, aging parents, mortgages and plans for the future, and we are angry alongside you, sad for you and afraid like you. We feel anxiety and disappointment in our hearts for the undeserved awkwardness you may feel and for the loss thrust upon you. We carry a heaviness in our stomachs, knowing you were victims of one-sided loyalty, now cloaked in silly corporate jargon – nouns turned into verbs to sound smart, “visioning” – ridiculous, artificial phrases created, all just fancy words to gloss over what’s really happened. Lives are turned upside down and the planet’s greatest asset, living breathing people who raise families and build communities, have become a liability. Well, no one looks smart or glossy today.
A general helplessness has fallen over the city, as try as we may, there is nothing to say that will fix this for you, but please know we see you and we have you in our hearts. We are in your children’s schools, your places of worship and your local pubs. We live next to you and our hearts sank for you with this news. You are not invisible. We care, and I am certain that when W.K. Kellogg, said this about his Kellogg’s family:
“Whatever success I have had in business has been a result of my good fortune in selecting employees who could do their jobs better than I could have done them myself.”
He was talking about you.
