Thread regarding Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. layoffs

I’m really sick of hearing Store Mgrs and District Mgrs tooting their own horn about how hard they work and worked to get to their positions. Hey you got their riding the backs of the department mgrs you just let go. You are a bunch of bragging, worthless pieces of crap that always took credit for our good and beat the heck out of us for failure. Well you guys are rowing the sinking boat now and your not getting anywhere except circling with zero progress and guess what now the company will find out what we already knew, your a bunch of losers that could not get it done without us!! I know your all reading this laughing but deep down you’ve got a sinking, terrifying feeling because you know you are next!! Yes some of you will survive but if you were half as smart as you think you are you better keep some of the real workers and brains around to help get your work done because you won’t and can’t get it done, ha ha everyone knows that. FYI for you it’s a cheap world out here and you will be just one of many looking for another job that won’t oay you beat as much as you were making, I won’t feel sorry for you. Your days are numbered because I have the information straight from a source in Union that is still working and hates what you guys did, info is being leaked and your demise sounds better

everyday. Your time is almost up, SM, OPS, District Staff and ASM they will be done with you before March 1, 2018, severance pay don’t count on it, you will be yesterday’s garbage.

Regardless of the official company statement, everyone knows that layoffs were done in relation to your age, salary and your personal relationship with the SM and DM. So BBB just get over yourself, you did not value hard work, great team work and loyalty, you only based your decision on friendship. The SM and Ops conducted shady paperwork, questionable attendance records and time off records. I’m glad all that is permanent records where the EEOC can dig up your dirty business. We are angry but most of all disappointed in a company that we believed and gave it our all. Good luck ( not really) you will pay in the end.

To those former SM and DM’s, most of you were good but some of you were beyond lazy and guess what you still have lazy SM and DM’s that are lazy that won’t help right the sinking ship unless their friends are with them. I don’t care if Steve took a pay cut, I don’t care how hard you said you worked, you got promoted off the backs of hard working employees. It makes me sick to hear a SM or DM talk like they DID IT!! So sit down in your office on your backside the way you always did while you were resting between dog and pony shows and eat some more chips and candy that you took off the shelf. So be quite if you cant say something nice about the people that HELPED make you look fabulous!

From some research, i have found one trend. The pay scale for those fired was on top of most. wage discrimination. yes even for dpmt mgrs pay higher than dome ASM positions in some cases. Now i hear of transfers going on and hiring of newer lower paud managers. yes it might seem unfair, i dont know if there's anything there but seems a bit odd to me.

No wonder they put us on hourly pay but this company was not stupid when t did that. They gave us a good story, don't worry we are going to pay you the same but 40 hrs will be regular and 7.5 will be overtime cause you will be working 47.5 hrs. What a crock of sh--. 1/2 lunch oh but the store managers get an hour lunch still work the same hours as we did since they don't clock in or out. They left the store hours earlier and get paid the full day. You say why we never spoke up, Well retaliation that is why. And when you did go to HR open door policy. They have o f course would go tell everyone and mention your name. I

BBB is doing what it must to try to survive. That said they could have taken different paths.

1) Change the ridiculous return policy . 2) Stop focusing on "evil" Amazon, and create an atmosphere that drives people into the store again. ( which I can easily name a dozen ideas here, but why bother, they didn't even bother to give us an exit interview so f... them . ) 3) Coupons create 5,000,000 new coupons to further frustrate the hell out of everyone.

Those of you who are still with BBB get ready to smile with the big toothy grin ! Your about to get the shaft, again and again.

So much disinformation here it's really embarassing. Steve is alive and well, and both him and Matt were in our store just a few weeks ago. They were different than I've ever seen them before. Now I suspect they were well aware that I was on the layoff list as some of the comments they made were very strange.

If they needed to save money, they could have stopped paying out the quarterly stock dividends. These dividend payouts just started last year. They pay out $21 million dollars per quarter. That $84 million per year. Save $17 Million in payroll expense for about 900 people, to pay stock holder that produces no revenue.

I worked for the company for 13 years. I started as a dept manager and was an operations manager my last 10 years there before I decided to move on. It's a damn shame that so many people I worked with lost their jobs unexpectedly. Explain me this why does each district need the following positions. District customer service, district loss prevention, district merchandising manager, district operations manager and district HR manager. There jobs should be performed by the district manager who normally never did anything anyways. Right there if you eliminate those lazy positions that's $350,000 each district saves. I remember as a share holder getting reports on the bonuses that the RVP's would get and it was sickining. How about cutting secret shops too, but no let's just screw the passionate individuals that made you look good. I now run my own business and bed bath and beyond taught me how not to treat your employees. Good luck to you all.

The problem remains that the dept mgr position was intended to be a way to develop future managers. I knew this. And knew I was getting paid more than newer store managers. After 15 years as a department manager still....its no wonder we were let go. If you were never promoted during that time period it just makes sense to trim the fat. Sure some of the lazier people are left....but they are either making what entry level management makes, or did a better job pretending to drink the kool aI'd.

For someone to say that they got rid of the weak people is not true. They got rid of hard working people that gave all to these company. This was all about greed let get more money in our pockets and screw the rest. We can get cheaper labor work them for less pay. What a-- holes that is all I have to say. And about them working on the floor is bull them come in and sit their a-- and be on the phone laughing. Let's see what kind of customer service they get. Inexperienced supervisor that will probably let their friend come and steal.

I have been with BBB for almost 20 years. I started out as a department manager. I'm hourly now. Many of you have made extremely valid points on both sides of the fence..... my DM works his/her butt off!! I just lost friends in several states who have worked for the company for many years....my heart goes out to them...truly a sad day.....this is a changing world folks! I hope that this restructuring of management works...and that this coming year, that the lease negotiations go well... if not, then, it will be a very dark day!

I am a manager for BBB currently. I was not one of fallen to be let go, ironically I'm at work right now. I will be resigning as of Monday. I can not work anymore for accompany who treats loyal hard working long tenure employees like that. A man who was in his mid or late 60's who has been with the company for 28 years was laid off. What or where could he go now!!? This company called in managers who was off and ask them to come in to help with a "project" I was shocked. I seen them call 3 different managers while on VACATION with their families to lay them off one of them was at Disney. So to the people who are somewhat defending what the company did or are upset people are venting. You guys go out before this and do not know what their feelings are or how the lay offs was handle. I have been with this company since 1997 so I may know some of you. This company has changed a great deal. God willing I will find something out. This company was great at one point. Current employed managers the sign is on the wall. You really don't think this we happen to us?????!!! Don't be a fool. Leave like i am at least the ones who got laid received a pretty nice serverence package. We may not get one.

If we can't get a class action then individually sue them. Made me train other managers I what I know about 2 months ago then they lay me off. Sneaky.

12yr dpt mgr. Alot of work i put into this company.Helping opening new stores,helping other stores to fix hbc,overnights, traveling to other stores for inventory.I was a supervisor for inventory the one in charge of pack and hold.Which I ran it so good.Always busted my a-- when the DM was coming the next day.For what!!!! They kept a person who does none of these things. But be a cst who give classes. Lod once in a while. They are about to promote an associate who couldn't even run hbc dpt but let it fall to the ground. They pick who they wanted to stay. I guess i should have kiss alot of asses.Since my performance wasnt good enough for them.

Hey, Mr. "I worked side by side with Steve".... he has been gone for about 4 months now. Matt F. runs things now.

Those that complain about "district staff".... you don't belong in retail . I've been with the company for over 10 years and I busted my a-- from day one as a dept manager, to an ASM , to an SM, and a few years ago to make it to a district staff level . And guess what ? It was hard work ! But guess what else? Now , technically with the hours I put in driving to 18 stores - on top of working a minimum of 10 hours a day and then driving home 2 hours or more , lucky if I get to at least say good night to my family - now it's even more stress and harder work ! I help stores , I work on the floor , I cashier , I do my own orders , I sling freight when I need to , I pick up LOD shifts - and guess what ? I still have to finish my huge to do list "in the office" as some of you put it . Until you've walked in ALL shoes , and blame others - you should hold back on offending the rest of us HARD working retail workers . Retail is a tough gig . But I still love it . And you know what? My eyes are open - if I need to make a decision for myself to leave if the ship sinks then I haven't been blind to that possibility in the last 5 years of fighting the Amazon takeover .

Why does everyone take it out on their own ? The millions of people working in the retail world should band together and fight the Amazon takeover by GIVING GREAT SERVICE and making the customer WANT to come in to our brick and mortar ! If you don't want to do that - get out of retail . You don't belong . I lost many many friends this week - and I am grieving as well - but it's so much more than some of your limited minds can understand .

You are just a corporate shill. This is how Circuit City started. Go away.

Sorry, but I'm another former BBB SM, and I happen to know two of the people that were laid off, so don't tell me to go away. I have just as much right to express my opinion as you do.

I will say that when any company has layoffs they try to use it as an excuse to get rid of their weakest employees and find ways to keep the best ones. And no doubt that's part of what happened here, and if you owned a company you would be doing the same or it's likely you would not own the company for very long.

Yeah, the company is far from perfect, but without my experience at BBB, I would never be where I am today. Like any other chain retailer, there are some bad SM's and some excellent ones. I've long thought BBB was one of the better retailers to work for. Certainly not as good as someone like Costco, but certainly far better than someone like Sears. BBB asks a lot of you, but if you deliver you are rewarded. If you just want a job where all you need to do is show up, BBB is the wrong place to work. Plenty of other places you can get away with that, but BBB is not one of them.

I'm not hear to defend the company as there's nothing that needs defending. Just sayin it like it is.

To all these people defending the company and calling people sad, go away. These people just went through a trauma. They worked their rears off and put up with so much only to be unceremoniously fired. They are bitter. They are venting. I have worked for other retailers and by far BBB is the worst as far as treatment of associates. From what I see,being a manager is even worse. So please, don't defend this company, These people don't want to hear it right now.

A class action? On what basis? Sorry, but there's nothing generally illegal or fraudulent about laying off employees. Happens every day as business' needs change.

And yes you can assume this was done very carefully to avoid lawsuits. I've never seen a company that makes such an effort in this regard. This is a company run by attorneys, Steve being one himself.

Right now you should just be happy you have BBB on your resume. For good reason they are very very respected by other retailers , and having that on your resume will open doors for you. Good luck.

You can put your head in the sand and not recognize the radical changes that are taking place in retail. Or you can try to take advantage of the opportunities that the changes are creating. I think trying to blame this on BBB is way off base.

I was a BBB SM years ago and then a DM more recently, although I left the company several years ago, and no longer work directly in retail. But I'm still good friends with a number of former BBB co-workers, and continue to have a lot of insight into the goings on there. Each and everyone of them is upset about this. I've personally known Warren, Len, Steve and Art for two decades as I worked side by side with them for many years when the company was much smaller.

The good news is that Steve clearly sees the dramatic changes happening in retail, and he doing his best to keep the company out in front of the changes. Unfortunately things don't last forever, and sometimes change is painful.

Do you seriously think any company is being "sneaky" when you are laid off and then escorted from the store? Get real. You don't lay off an employee and let them hang around to disrupt the remaining ones. The company is offering more to the laid off associates than most companies do.

And who are you to claim that the regional offices are overstaffed. I'll tell you right now that few store level associates have any understanding what goes on in the offices.

The fact is that Steve has taken a substantial pay cut, but you are not aware of that, are you? Shows what you know. Steve is worth every dollar he makes. His heart and soul is the company, and if it were not for his efforts it's unlikely you or I would ever have had a job at BBB to start with. Steve and Art's salaries have little to do with the changes facing BBB. How about digging into the facts before making a claim like that.

Finally, I feel really sad for the person that stayed with the company for 7 years despite strongly disagreeing with the company's return policy. Guess it didn't really bother you that much given that you stuck around 7 years. Why didn't you move on long before this? Must have been pretty obvious to those around you that you did not consider customer service much of a priority, and that you were not a good "fit" with the company. Not surprised that someone like you would be on the layoff list.

You don't get a class action against them. They're not stupid and am sure they dotted every I and crossed every t. This isn't a mom and pop store.

How do we get a class action against them?

Floor & Decor is hiring across the country for department managers-sorry to those laid off by BBB. Contact us at recruiting@flooranddecor.com-we'll see if we can help you out.

Thanks again Amazon

They are a very sneaky company.After 11 yrs of hard work, working overnights, helping opening stores.opening the building because the store mgr cant get up on time. Got laid off like i was nothing. They are laying off the wrong people.

What a shame ! This company has had some issues for a long time . Way to too heavy . Way to many district support staff personnel. What ever happen to the old days when a district manager was the hr person and the operation guru . To many district this and regional that . Cut those people who make more and don't add to the bottom line . I am sad to see so many of my old friends and my family members lose their job .

Steven Temares and Art Stark and the rest of the Key executives should take a pay cut . Hell we all know they have plenty of money to live . None of them are single parents trying to raise a family .

What a shame to say these guys run your company and can't fix the problem . Work a day in the stores and see who does what where and why .

7 years of service for a company that has the most disregard for human beings. Employees must take returns that are 5 years old, with food molded in them or must take back a used toilet seat also used sheet set and used inside the tub bath mat from the fear of the disrespectful customers calling to complain. What company does that to a person? Taking back a use trash can really. You can't blame the rude dirty nasty customers who return these items, you must blame the company that allows it to happen!!! And listen and believe the lies the customers say and make you feel like a less human being.

BBB, you guys will rue this day for spoiling people lives who work so hard and taking so much disrespect from your nasty horrible customers.

Great class you guys should today👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Such a velvety language - what they should have said is: We trashed 100s of careers with an utter disregard for the individual.