The focus of upper management is to plump up the bottom line, thus making it attractive to private equity firms. This is not a rumor. You can find articles posted on the internet last January about a failed sale attempt.
CDK's customers and employees are bearing the brunt of of this focus.
CDK has made a concerted effort to move jobs from the US to India. In addition to many Americans being let go, those remaining are expected to work early mornings and/or late evenings to accommodate the Indian developers' work schedule.
Frequent layoffs have been a catalyst for the evolution of a toxic work culture. Workers find little inspiration in not knowing from one day to the next if they or their colleagues will be let go. Loyalty to the company is not a desirable characteristic. Younger employees are quitting CDK at what looks to be an accelerating rate.
A catastrophic effect of the layoffs is the loss of domain knowledge. Increasingly, no one can learn how things work or how to get things done because those who did know are no longer around. Tasks that used to take hours now can take days, if they even can be done at all.
Benefits have suffered, especially health insurance. CDK claims to have benefits competitive with the rest of the industry, but anecdotal evidence belies this. Premiums rise every year, along with deductibles.
The office environment is abysmal. Long rows of tables serve as work areas. Employees are spaced six feet apart from right to left and about five feet from those sitting in the next row. This is mitigated somewhat by the number of employees who have chosen to work from home. Some employees feel the need to talk loudly on the phone with no regard for their colleagues. Complaints to management fall on deaf ears.
CDK no longer pays for parking.
The net result for the CDK's customers is a decline in service and quality.
