WHY do some companies retire employees that are still as useful as when the day they hired them? In fact, they become, most of them anyway, better performers with the passing of years.
The age of retirement has come?
The owners just following the rules?
Company policy?
What a crazy move, if not a downright stupid idea—retiring still good-as-new employees due to one rule that is as old as prostitution.
Research brims with stories of manpower getting better as they age, of a person growing older becoming usually more reasonable and, therefore, doubly efficient in the performance of his work.
Why many companies still insist on sticking to a policy of imposing a retirement age to their employees is simply an outmoded narrative already. It is as obsolete as the Betamax in this Netflix-flooded environment.
Aren’t we forging a lasting employer-employee relationship by striking out the exit-age curse, as in a marriage intended to never getting dissolved for it to last a lifetime?
And look at this: Just to skirt the company policy, a retired employee gets himself rehired by making him as a consultant by his very own bosses. That means that the worker is either still useful or enjoys preferential treatment from his employer. But as consultant, the employee abdicates company benefits like vacation leaves, bonuses and other perks he used to enjoy.
It’s a crazy world but then, that’s how the universe, at times, unfolds.
But Toyota has sort of made a milestone detour regarding retirement policy recently. That’s when it reactivated Vince S. Socco as the country’s No. 1 carmaker has sort of jarred the automotive landscape from its comfort zone.
Socco is simply too big a fish in the industry to be set free just like that. Only sixtyish, his immense talent is an automotive watershed and Toyota is just fully well aware of it. It would be foolhardy for the global brand to just watch the dude walk out the door. Look, a mere mention of Socco’s name would trigger tremors on capricious captains steeped on policy directions. A mind of Socco’s stature instills quiet dignity that if every major player would try to covet his services, no surprise there I tell you.
Here’s the frank, unexpurgated and straightforward release from Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) about Socco’s return to the aquarium of truth that he rightfully belongs to spread more cheers to the motor world “till the seas run dry.” Thank you to Elvin “Hayes” Luciano for the following:
“August 14, 2019. Makati City, Philippines. GT Capital Holdings Inc. [GT Capital /stock symbol]:
“GTCAP disclosed today its appointment of Mr. Vicente Saniel Socco as Chairman of GT Capital Auto Dealership Holdings Inc. [GTCAD].
“GTCAD is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GT Capital and is the automotive dealership holding vehicle for the Group.
“He brings close to 40 years of expertise in the automotive sector.
“Mr. Socco was appointed general affairs manager of Toyota’s Manila liaison office before being assigned in 1988 to Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. [TMP], where he rose through the ranks to become senior vice president [SVP] for marketing.
“In 2007, Mr. Socco was appointed SVP at Lexus Asia, concurrent with his role as an executive for country operations at Toyota Motor Asia Pacific [TMAP] in Singapore, the automaker’s regional office.
“Then, in 2014, he became TMAP’s general manager, reporting to Toyota’s global headquarters in Japan. He then returned to Singapore at his TMAP post in 2017 until his retirement in July 2019.”
To say that Socco is a byword in the automotive business is an understatement. To say that Toyota’s latest move was merely to resurrect a living legend, think again, fellas.
If that’s not another Toyota master stroke, I don’t know what is.
In an interview, Socco told Visor’s editor in chief, Vernon B. Sarne: “I am very glad to be back in the Philippine automotive industry. I really look forward to leveraging my local, regional and global experience toward the development of the Philippine economy and the pursuit of mobility for the Filipino nation.”
Did he really leave us?
Your departure—if it can be called that—was just a furlough, if I may remind you, buddy Vince. Indeed, Socco’s wealth of experience will carry GT Capital to new heights. You doubt that and you know nothing about the magic behind the initials VSS.
As Sarne said it: “Expect GT Capital-owned Toyota dealers to be more aggressive but also more creative in the coming days.”
I couldn’t agree more.
PEE STOP No, not P375 billion but P735 billion as the budget earmarked by San Miguel Corp. for the international airport in Bulacan, to be called the “aetropolis” when it is finally opened for operation hopefully six years from now…Nice to know that Froi Dytianquin, who used to be a pillar at Mitsubishi Motors, is back as a top gun at Geely. Cheers, Froi!…But when will Arlan Reyes, Froi’s partner at Mitsubishi, resurface from his self-imposed exile from the motoring scene?