Thread regarding Follett layoffs

Follett sucks. Kill Ken.

Too late now. But maybe someone still there can use the info. My supervisor at HO would always pull the sad face routine...... " if you need to come in early or stay later to get your job done" as he/she looked at the clock when I arrived each morning. Supervisor took to call me at 5:30-6pm to see if I was still there. Trust me, they are tracking you. If you don't live there, you are out.

If you are an exempt salaried employee and your manager or anyone else above you is keeping track of your hours and demanding that you work more than 40 hours, you have a solid bases for a lawsuit. The lawsuit would be claiming overtime pay that they are not giving you. Any good labor attorney would jump on this if it is happening across the board with a large number of employees.

My boss actually kept track of how many hours I worked. We had to check in, either by phone or an email with time stamp. It was implied that 40 was not acceptable.

To those who work over 50 hours per week outside rush... why?!? There is no reason to put in that many hours. make a sales associate a key holder, ask your regional for a team lead, or ask your campus if you can adjust store hours. Don't slave away! You won't lose your job by working 36-40 hours. In fact you'll probably accomplish more because you'll be better rested and less stressed. I guarantee with 10 years of testing to back me up that this can be done.

I love my position. It pays well, I don't have to take it seriously, it's easy, and I get front row seats to the s#it show. ;-)

Wow! So many posts and hard truths... Yes there are bitter people that are upset and have every right to be especially if you've dedicated a good portion of your work life to Follett, gave 110% each day not just for days or weeks but years and decades and then to have the rug pulled from out of you to make room for a kid who can't tell you the difference between "net" or "list" pricing is beyond incomprehensible!

I had always wished to bring in more of my friends and family to work for Follett and always spoke with true pride and gratitude when asked where I (use to) worked and what I do... but now I wouldn't want my worst enemy to work there... anywhere else would be better... hell even digging ditches would be better and you probably get recognized more and appreciated more than any of the new numbskulls at Folllett will ever give you!

The true number of those let go is actually close to 2000 over the past 2 years. They don't say thanks when people leave so they just disappear. This includes stores and home office.

This is fact. After firing at least 600 employees (most of whom had benefits and most of whom had significant time in service to Follett and/or their campus communities) Sr management partied at a company paid for event before the Cal V Stanford football game. It was catered. It featured beer and wine and cloth napkins. There were goody bags and tickets to the game. People flew in and prospects were flown in. They stayed at expensive hotels in San Francisco or near Stanford. It happened in the open for everyone to see. I walked by the "let them eat cake" fest more than a few times. Both the layoff and the party were planned well in advance. No care was given to those who saw there friends walked out of the store in tears. That's the thing. No one in management cared. At some point, there was a pivot to malignant disregard for others. That's where you are today. You work for a company that will fire over 600 team members and then spends tens of thousands of dollars on the very people who decided whom to fire. indefensible.

You know I've been very worried over the decade or so I've been with the firm that my cynacism about how life was with Follett was the result of being incapable of being a functional productive member of society. Listening to the long time key staff here that moved on does offer a bit of solace; there is life after Follett, and it's not terrible. I know I've started looking for other options. My own attempts at whistleblowing memos and 'confidential' internal changes I felt were detramental to staff was -never- how I wanted to treat a company that employed me.

Sorry for the typo! You can’t BEGIN to understand what a resource you’ve lost with the loss of Mike T, or Mike D, or Pat R…. You’re just the next excuse for the failure of senior management. I think you get the point. Too bad senior management doesn’t get it.

To Anonymous135624 YOU prove MY point…Does Follett own this site now that they can update the header? No, of course not. Do you know where they got that information from? From Follett who use to proudly publish their growth numbers and the number of associates they employed. They USE to value each and every associate. Follett has killed its institutional knowledge base and replaced it with a bunch of arrogant punks that think they invented the wheel. You can’t being to understand what a resource you’ve lost with the loss of Mike T, or Mike D, or Pat R…. You’re just the next excuse for the failure of senior management.

Felt your pain, believe me. 50+ Hours a week is small compared to what they forced us to work in HO. Stores were understaffed ten years ago, and now...... Good luck finding an associate to provide that all important customer service. Follett is a MACHINE now. Who cares who gets hurt in the pursuit of what they think is the almighty dollar.

Wow, this escalated quickly.

I left Follett many many years ago and sort of work in the "industry" now. I left years before the layoffs. It was becoming unhealthy for me and my family as I was working 50+ hours regularly and when football games came up, I'd be there for nearly every hour of the weekend. It was expected and necessary due to the major lack of direction from HO and limited labor resources. In the meantime, artificial price increases were covering for lagging book sales and it was becoming obvious the company was struggling. Heck, I felt like the whole industry was in peril. This was 10 years ago.

What do I mean by artificial price increases? How about rounding up to the $0.10 and then to $0.25. Seems small you say? Then why do it? Redefining "margin" to include the cost of write-offs and packages? COPAR anyone? All violations of contracts unless an amendment was signed, which was worded quite vaguely and did not spell out the cost to students.

Meanwhile, ethics issues (nepotism, favoritism. lack of real diversity) were sprouting up around me. HO became "mean" in my opinion and really seemed to be struggling to come up with good ideas. Now, 10 years later you can walk into some Follett stores and they do not look like they did 15 years ago. Clearly there are staffing issues and there is no doubt an obvious attempt to buy books on credit, rip off student financial aid, and return stock before invoices are paid. Do you think that's how Amazon does it?

It isn't a lie that I was let go after many years of service- my job was eliminated - and then replaced with someone from one of the 3 companies that are the new recruiting ground. Person that replaced me had none of the skills, and several senior team associates contacted me after the fact to express their shock. I haven't lied on this board, nor have I given any information to competitors. I have not used any derogatory terms for the other 3 companies.

On a regular basis, people that still work at Follett contact me for advice on how to deal with all of the new hires that have no idea what is going on. Yes, I tell them to look for a new job. There is nothing left of the old Follett that is worth saving. The new management seems a bit ruthless to me, and you certainly can't change their management style after all of these years. I also miss the "old" Follett, but it is not coming back.....ever. Even if they rehired all of the old people who had values and believed in great service. So it is time to move on, but we can still use this board to vent our disappointment at what Follett has become - another greedy company being run to the ground by the descendants of the original founders. A study of family owned businesses showed that most are destroyed by the 3rd generation.

I sleep better at night knowing that the A team has been hired to save the company. Prior to their arrival Follett was only in business 100+ years, and was the largest bookstore operator in the US.

18 years with Follett. I can't count the number of my sons baseball games I had to miss. I wish I could do it over.

@ 135528 - You are a perfect representation of the lower life forms that remain at Follett. The bottom dwellers, the cold and heartless that thrive on the misfortune of others. You judge people without having any idea of what they went through before, during and after Follett's numerous layoffs. You are a sorry excuse for a human being. After 20 years of dedicated service, more awards and recognitions than I can count and 5 promotions I was given 1 hour to remove my personal belongings from my office. So go ahead and judge me for voicing my opinion about a company that preaches the "Follett Values" yet without hesitation ruin the lives of hundreds of people. Until you walk in our shoes your words are empty and have no value. Your telling your coworkers not to worry about more layoffs, who's the liar? Maybe you should move on!

Anonymous135611... You proved my point. Does Follett own this site now that they can update the header? Are you going to blame ISIS or global warming on them next? And now we all know that the same few people are posting here because every post either references "Kool-Aid" or "Kfart" or some other words from a limited vocabulary.

Good night.

Enjoy your Kool-aid, they're not lies. Remember, you OWN IT now. If you don't fix it (dynamic leaders stupid decisions) you'll be blamed and out you go! Always someone else is responsible.Your perception that you're a lot smarter that those stupid poor performers they had to let go to save the company will soon be tested. Ask why this has never been update in the header...Revenue information: Estimated 2008 revenue is 2.52 billion (USD). Estimated 2008 workforce: 8000. Located in IL - no growth since 2008? Workforce: 8000?

Enough. It baffles me how much vitriol you still hold for this company, the language you use, and the constant complaining. First, you complained about Mary Lee. Then, she was let go and replaced with a very smart, empathetic CEO and then you started complaining about him, even though he's only been there a couple of months. You complain about every move the company makes, share secrets with competitors, try and make people that still work there feel bad. All you do is complain. All companies have issues. If you truly ever loved working at Follett or had any respect for the industry, or yourselves for that matter, you wouldn't be on here lying and complaining. Many of us work there and read these posts because they are comical, for one, and two because we want want to know what lies you are spewing so that we can address them when coworkers start worrying about nothing. It's not because we care about you or what you say. They let you go. Move on. Unless, you can't find work because other companies won't hire you. They probably see the flaws that Follett eventually saw in you.

Sounds like someone has been drinking the Kool-aid. Working at Follett is like heaven on earth isn't it? All those dynamic leaders! Enjoy! BTW, why are you posting or reading this site? You should be at working making your dynamic leaders look greater! And don't forget to kiss the great CNS' arse every morning because without THE NETWORK no other functions could happen!

I personally know at least 3 dozen people who have been laid off and posted to this board. Some are home office, rest are store associates. It isn't just a few people. The company I worked for became bad. Fear, long hours, threats.... Not really anything motivating, although there were many times management pretended to care ( like those "new" revamped Follett values). Look at all of the great people let go, MT only the latest in a long line of people pushed out. A lot of people still there are actively looking for other work, and if they have to stay until they find it, so be it. When you have bills, you need a job. I love to hear when people quit and leave a hole for them; eventually, anyone with any true knowledge of the industry will be long gone. There is so much information that can never be recovered, and sooner or later, something vital will slip thru the cracks, leading to their downfall.

@Anonymous135386 - management or not, you are incorrect that there are only a few people posting here. It is obvious from reading the posts that we come from a variety of different locations and a variety of positions. There have been a number of posts from people claiming to be management threatening to discover who we are and fire us, so perhaps the 'paranoia' is well justified.

You lazily left off the qualifier ..."who has been laid off". I assure you I'm not Kim Jung Un. I have talked to many who have been laid off. We do see things they way I've described. I couldn't work there today. Management's treachery is real, proven and it was easily applied, I couldn't work for a company who became that bad. lf you've joined since that "transition", you aren't encumbered by what the company was. Truth is, the economy has turned its back on people who serve others for a living. If you serve the board of directors, you're well paid, however.

Of course anyone who disagrees with you must be a management mole. Paranoia runs deep.

Sounds like Edelman or management are posting again. Anyone who has followed the posts for any length of time can see that posters represent both current and former employees from a wide variety of locations and positions. Posters who claim otherwise are just trying to discourage those of us who follow this site.

"This site speaks for nearly EVERYONE who has been laid off". I think that is the harder claim to validate. Takes some ego to believe you speak for EVERYONE.

Validate your claim that there are only 3 or 4 naysayers and they do most of the posting on this site. The site reflects the feelings of nearly EVERYONE who was laid off or run out of follett. If by transition, you mean transitioning to death, you're right. Ned, NEEBO was a bad company. An organization can't turn its back on employees with 25+ years of service and kick them to the curb. That makes it a bad company. Bad is as bad does. Follett has done the same. It is a bad company. It was always difficult, but it wasn't bad. Follett today is bad.

I have agree with 134900. This is a good company going through a tough transition. The 3 or 4 nay sayers who do 90% of the posting on this site will bad mouth all who disagree with them. The future of the company is not with them but with those who work everyday to make things better. Let them continue to spew their impotent rage, it has no impact on the here and now.

Follett isn't a bad company. They are going to have to adapt though. Not sold they have the mindset to run off campus stores. These stores could be buyback and online selling machines. Now books that have value just walk out the door because the company doesn't want to buy them and stores have huge amounts of inventory just collecting dust because their online sales are non-existent. The next battle on the frontier will be the publishers bypassing the bookstores all together. Fun times...

"They just hired bad people". Yes, in the past year, they have hired some bad people who have hired some more bad people. They hired some bad consultants who have given some bad advice on how to save money and the bad executives took the advice. They followed some bad practices on how to achieve the economies and now they have fired or run out some good people (prior to you starting). They have laid claim to sweat equity they had no right to claim. They ruined careers in doing so. The customer isn't better of for it. I'm not someone who is unemployed, I found another job. They're thrilled we get to work together. However, I miss my old job. I miss my old company. My old company changed before I had to leave. I miss the good, old company. I am bitter about the people who thought they knew the business. They didn't. They didn't even have the customers' best interest at heart. So, dear wise, young, sage ass hat. You're wrong about who reads and posts here. You are an example of what this company is moving towards. It isn't better.

Better perks???? What planet are you on? There has been a steady stream of benefit cuts the last few years. Unless, of course you are one of the many VPs or senior VPs. Then your post might make sense.

Anonymous134900 is right. I've been with Follett for about 10 years now. I'm not management, and I don't think the company is as bad as this site makes it sound. It's actually gotten better over the past few years (ie, better perks). Like Anonymous134900 said, it's mostly the bitter folks that come here to post, so of course you're only going to see bad stuff here. Anyways, people who are interested in working at Follett shouldn't rely on a single source to know how the company is. They should see it for themselves by interviewing and asking questions of a handful of current employees.

How funny are you. A new employee who "likes" the company but not only checks this layoff board, but actually posts to it. Priceless. What company did you come from and what was your role? Who did you know at Follett before joining? Getting rid of experience and replacing it with inexperience is not the answer - just look at the results.

Because the people complaining here are all a bunch (and by bunch I mean probably three people who are still unemployed and therefore have nothing else to do) of bitter idiots who don't know how to move on. The company is actually not bad. Yes, they laid off people. So did every other company over the past few years. And yes, they are changing. They need to in order to survive. They can't keep coddling employees like they did for decades because competition is more fierce. I joined a year ago and don't find it nearly as dysfunctional as other places I have been, and no I am not in management, and no I do not come from retail. I actually come from the industry.

It's not a bad company. They just hired bad people. Especially those that still work there and post. They are the most hopeless of them all. Move on.