It has become fairly obvious to me that the company is well aware of my online activity and almost certainly also of my identity. They can't much like what I have been posting. While I don't really care about them or their concerns at this point in my life, I am not dumb enough to think that they are not capable of making my life very uncomfortable and very expensive if they so chose. So I will make a few points and move on.
Overall, Walmart and Sam's have been good to me and I have likwise been very good to them. However, the current gang of fools that is running the company have been using tactics to cut their payroll costs that are........ let's just say "questionable" because I am trying to keep this post professional. We all know what they are doing, and we all know how they are doing it. I guess it is the fact that they have been very successful at keeping it mostly out of the media and away from public consciousness that I find most galling.
After years of good service and great evaluations I suddenly found myself on the fast boat to termination. I admittedly cannot prove that because I found another job and resigned before they could finish me off, but the signs were all in place and I won't even bore you with the details because anybody who has been with the company for very long knows them all by heart. I am not looking for sympathy here. With my reputation and connections I was able to find alternate employment in a very, very short period of time and now have an employer who appreciates me, my work ethic, my attitude, and what I bring to the table. I enjoy going to work again. My stress level has plummeted. I was fortunate that my Sam's Club employment story had a happy ending.
The points I wanted to make are as follows:
1) Do not trust the company. Do not borrow money that depends on long term employment with this company. When you have hit their expiration date you will be gone. It doesn't matter how hard or how long you have worked.. They have no loyalty to you whatsoever. None. You should likewise hold no loyalty to them. Period. Take care of yourself. If that means working for Sam's then work for Sam's, but do so with your eyes wide open. They will screw you without a second thought when it serves their purposes. Return the favor when it serves yours.
2) Do not assume that anything you post here is anonymous. It is not. If you are critical of the company and they want to know who you are they will find out. If you are still employed by them do not say anything on this board you would not say in front of your club manager, market manager, or regional manager. They cannot take away your first amendment rights, but they can terminate you for any reason at any time. And they will.
3) In my humble opinion, age discrimination is alive and well. A "tenured" employee, however, does not have to be in his 60's, 50's or even 40's. He just has to make more money or have more PTO accrued than whoever they can hire off the street. This kind of discrimination is illegal, but in practice it is extremely difficult to prove because they can charge you will all kinds of trivial "infractions" to document and justify your termination. Look out for yourself. Nobody else will do so.....most certainly not the company.
4) The company knows that their new scheduling and staffing situation will not adequately cover the club. THEY DO NOT CARE. They are saving money by cutting long term people and making the shareholders happy, at least for the current quarter. They will worry about next quarter's results next quarter. Quarterly earnings are like corporate cancer, but they play the game of long-term Russian Roulette and pull the trigger over and over. It's worked for the past couple of years, but will not work in the long run.
5) The club manager, market manager, or regional manager are not your friends. Do not treat them as such. No matter how long you have known them. They are mostly out for themselves as you now should be. They too fear for their jobs and are constantly jonesing for favor with their respective bosses. Most of them will cut your throat without a second thought. We've all seen it happen. It can happen to you.
6) Always remember that this is just a (insert your favorite expletive here) job. We should all strive to strike a life balance where we work to live and not vice versa. My priorities were flipped. Leaving this wretched company has been the best thing I have done for myself in the last 20 years. I found mine, and I hope you find yours. If it is with Sam's that is fine, but I don't like your odds. Keep your mind open to new possibilities. Life will take you in directions you never before expected, and things mostly work out as they should.
Go find your happiness, but I assure you that it ain't on this board.
Unless something majorly newsworthy occurs, I am out of here.