Another Pogrom has begun. At 4:36 CST a video was linked to via Follett TV of Ray Griffith giving a brief statement. In it he indicated that while Follett 'made money' this last fiscal year, that earnings fell well below expectations. As part of a necessary amount of 'reductions' Griffith announced layoffs with reductions of 80 million dollars as the expected outcome. Those laid off are provided with severance and job placement assistance. The locations impacted are at the home office in Westchester and at River Grove. Giffith was apologetic and contrite. As of this moment the video is not loading, likely due to bandwidth issues. There is no word whether this will trickle down into the field or other divisions, and plenty of disheartening rumors about 'this department is next!' Here. I can only report what I have seen, but prior years have shown this to be a long drawn out process that works its way across. It was because of 'Project Blue' that I adopted my alias. Good luck to those of us still employed. I will report my own status if I fall under the axe in the next few days.
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Just clarifying...payroll is not Follett's largest expense; commissions is.
How about they stop hiring all these new VP's.... every week it seemed like they were hiring a new VP and now all these people, myself included got fired. It's a bunch of crap if you ask me.
Perhaps obviously Management has no clue again what to do except layoff people and of course the political animals remain while the doers go. Same old song and dance.
Ok, be serious. How much do you think they can cut outside of headcount/benefits. They took significant measures last year with reductions in benefits such as healthcare, vacation etc. They can't cut store leases with BN being an agressive bidder and schools wanting more, they can defer a few internal projects here and there but if they were solid ROI projects they avoid the cost and also forego the benefits. They might be able to sublease one of the floors at Westbrook with the 200+ reductions over the past year. Just like any retailer, payroll dollars is the single largest expense.
It wasn't $90m in labor savings due to the layoffs. It was $90m in total cost reductions. The cost reductions couldn't get us to $90m, so the rest came from layoffs. He wasn't specific in saying the 'x' amount came from layoffs.
This doesn't surprise me. The Family has been doing this kind of crap for YEARS! They have a few great years, hire WAAYYYYY to many and then bring in idiots who make it worse. In the end they fire people who are well above median and have the knowledge. They will spend a hellva long time bringing things back up to speed while beating the remaining employees into submission. It's been a VERY long time since it was a place of happy employees.
The beatings will continue until moral improves
Layoffs and employee abuse = poor financial performance
= Layoffs and employee abuse = poor financial performance
= Layoffs and employee abuse = poor financial performance = .......and the trend of the past three years continues.
50 million, but you forgot to add this also included the addition of the daily food cart! Follett benefits keep growing.
That was a crazy mini townhall. What was the point of making the appearance/statement. In moments such as these we need leadership to provide assurance and comfort.
RG was closed in 2014 along with Oak Brook. The family owned Oak Brook which it sold to the Duchossis Family for 7 million who promptly bulldozed the building, Oak Brook and RG were move to Westchester towers where the Family spent $50 million plus to remodel property they didn't own. Brilliant.
I had no idea that Follett was failing so quickly. 80 million decline in bottom line means sales declined at even a faster pace than previously before. More concerning is what will turn this mess around? A new POS, new eFollett site, DR stores? 80 million dollar reduction in headcount, benefits etc is a huge number to hit.
I've heard word that layoffs in the field will come at the end of next month, before the new fiscal year. RG probably doesn't want to admit that yet.