Fonterra staff cuts adding more uncertainty and stress and signalling the wrong message

So on top of the carnage of the last auction we now have Fonterra slashing and burning staff. I was appalled not only for the staff but for farmers who were already left reeling this morning - only to have the headline news plastered with what looks like a hara-kiri cost cutting measure.
The timing could not have been more inappropriate...and it looked desperate.
The irony is that many farmers have defended the number of staff needed to run such a large scale organisation and the salaries committed to keep the best minds inside the co-op.
They weren't calling for the delete button...not by any means. Farmers are bright...they read a lot, they network a lot and they work social media better than most of the city slickers.
They know they are at the mercy of world prices - Fonterra can't control the price...and yes - in a time when all farmers have to make efficiencies it makes sense for everyone to be reviewing their practices.
But I'm sorry - this just seems like the panic button has been pushed - and the message that sends farmers already completely stressed by their financial situation is that they're screwed...
Fonterra has a responsibility to its farmers. It needs to be the parent in this situation. It needed to help reassure and advise farmers - and yet, instead it became an insular child, sulking in a room.
May-be Damien O'Connor was right when he said this morning on twitter that Fonterra has always been slow.
It's time for vision, cool heads and strong leadership. Sacking a tonne of staff smacks of a business model that has lost it's way. I'm afraid knee jerk is absolutely on the money when describing today's turn of events.
I like how Andrew Hoggard put it when the first round of job cuts were announced:
"As for these reviews Fonterra had the big strategic refresh only a couple of years ago, and a whole bunch of changes since then.  The obvious question is, if we have people in the wrong place why wasn’t all this identified back then and since then? Are these changes being talked about just a routine evolution of a business over time? None of our farms stay still.  We keep making little changes each year.  Is this just the same or is it bigger? The unfortunate appearance is it’s just a knee jerk response."