Happy Holidays to You and Yours,

Keith

I’m not surprised that I got this response from someone and I think that everything you said is valid about Welch. He’s not perfect and can come across as arrogant.

His divorce hurt him with the media as well. I do think his business theories are very sound and personal things aside, I like his philosophies.

Additionally, I do like your candor and your opinion is appreciated and accurate.

Glad I could be of help.

As a recruiter, it’s my job to establish realistic hiring expectations (which includes hiring as well as- or a little better than they can afford), and that includes letting clients know that if they want the best, they have to OFFER the best (money, benies, QoWL, stock, genuine opportunity, security.) It doesn’t have to be all or even most of these, but it has to be SOMETHING more the marketing hype of the arrogant and deluded founders, CXOs, hiring managers. etc.

Happy Holidays,

Keith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch
Criticism

According to Businessweek, critics of Welch have questioned whether the pressure he places on employees may have led them to “cut corners”, which may have contributed to controversies over defense-contracting, or the Kidder, Peabody & Co. bond-trading scheme in the early 1990s.[5]

Welch has received criticism for a lack of compassion for the middle class and working class. By his actions during acquisitions and wholesale shutdowns of GE business units Welch proved that his technique of only keeping the units your company is “good” at you can maximize ROI for the short term.[citation needed] Welch has stated that he is not concerned with the discrepancy between the salaries of top-paid CEOs and those of average workers. When asked about the issue of excessive CEO pay, Welch has said that such allegations are “outrageous” and has vehemently opposed proposed SEC regulations affecting executive compensation. Countering the public uproar over excessive executive pay (including backdating stock options, golden parachutes for nonperformance, and extravagant retirement packages), Welch stated that CEO compensation should continue to be dictated by the free market, without interference from government or other outside agencies.[11]

Welch’s income and assets came under scrutiny during his divorce from his second wife Jane in 2001, after she included details in divorce papers of what she said he received as benefits from GE. Welch’s contracts with GE were subsequently investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).[12][13] The retention package, worth $2.5 million, agreed upon by Welch and GE in 1996 promised him continued access after his retirement to benefits he received as CEO including an apartment in New York, baseball tickets and use of a private jet and chauffeured car.[12][14] These benefits were agreed upon in lieu of a more traditional stock package because, according to Welch, he did not want more money, preferring instead to retain the lifestyle he had enjoyed as CEO once he retired. According to an interview with Welch in 2009 this agreement was filed with the SEC. As a result of the media attention his divorce proceedings brought to his retention package, particularly claims that such a package made him look “greedy”, Welch chose to renounce the benefits.[14]

Opinions
Jack Welch identifies as a Republican.[30] He is also a global warming skeptic.[31] Yet he has said that every business must embrace green products and green ways of doing business, “whether you believe in global warming or not…because the world wants these products.”[32]

In an interview with the Financial Times on the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009, Welch said, “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy… your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.”[33]

In Fall of 2012 the U.S. unemployment rate was announced to have dropped from 8.1% to 7.8%. In a response posted on Twitter immediately after the new statistics were released Welch wrote, “Unbelievable jobs numbers…these Chicago guys will do anything…can’t debate so change numbers.”[34] In response to this comment Keith Hall, former BLS commissioner, said “to think that these numbers could be manipulated. … It’s impossible to do it and get away with it.”[35] Stephen Gandel of Fortune discussed in an article about Welch’s tweet and his other comments about Obama and Romney that GE had lost 100,000 jobs while Welch was CEO and that, of the 97,000 later added after criticism of Welch, only 12,000 were in the US and the rest were overseas.[36]

I aspire as a recruiter to help companies and candidates to connect to one another and then let them soar together. Happy soaring :-)
Ann Nelson