Thread regarding Lowe's Cos. layoffs

This "layoff " bs was such a joke. I was an ope specialist in a lowes in northern Michigan. The store I worked in had 11 department managers interview for the 4 service manager positions and the 4 people that got the positions had been with the company only 1-2 years and were way less qualified than the 7 that had dedicated 10 or more years to this company. This company was by far the worst I've ever worked for. They don't care about their customers and even less about the people that have dedicated many years to them.

I found it extra shady, and immoral, and I am hoping illegal ? That even though Niblock, and most of Corporate right down to the Store General Managers knew months in advance this "re-structuring" was going to take place kept posting, and hiring Department Managers, and ASM's and in a few cases hired associates who then moved their families to new towns only to lose the job or be demoted days or months later. The ones who stayed had to take a 2 to 4 $ pay cut ? That is just evil, you can't describe that any other way.

I worked for the company for 23 years. Started as head cashier and work up through the ranks. Dealt with s-xist, anti women, boys club, s-xual assault and harassment, managers that stole, embezzlement and as the fill in for HR, Store manager, ops, admin for 14 years, store of the year 2 times. To be told by the new store manager I was being laid off because I was not qualified with the new structure to be a manager at Lowes. I can guarantee I was let go in this restructure because of my wages. What a crock! I know how the game works, I have seen it and survived it through Lowes before. Liars. I always thought I would retire from Lowes, I was a company person! Not so much now.

I have worked both the corporate office and the stores and I can say from experience that the corporate has no clue what the stores do and the stores have no clue what corporate does. They should be ran as individuals. This was always my problem. I worked a store for over a year and loved my job and being the only universal agent they had I could do it all. I lost my job due to the store manager did not like me so an excuse was made to get rid of me. The store has now been in trouble with embezzlement and money loss that for some odd reason doesn't seem to be coming back on the store manager who if you work hard he gets rid of you and keeps the ones he likes regardless of how they work. The company itself needs to look at who is running there stores and quit sweeping things under the rug. The store may be performing the way it should but it's the employees making it that way. Lay the ones off who don't work.

I would love to have the $$$$$$$$$$$ that goes in the dumpster. Can't have it, can't buy it.........no, let's crush/destroy merchandise and have it dumped in a landfill. Sooooooooooo stupid.

cut down to 10hrs a week after 10 yrs at lowes. This is not about human beings, its about stocks and money. Drive by Menards.....they are packed. Lowes did it not the hard workers.

ASMs let go reported got 2 weeks pay severance pay for every year they worked at Lowes.

In WV AGE 40 AND OLDER IF REPLACED WITH BY YOUNGER PERSON YOU MAY FILE A AGE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT..

Lowes also failed to report All ope specialist were eliminated. Get to keep pay for one year, but after that need to have a permanent job in store or let go. That makes for more than 2400 as reported.

I am retired and I work for Lowe's part time. I see whats going on. Corporate should visit stores. It is so amazing how much items we are out of. That is why customers are leaving.

This reply is to Zebra, a few comments up, First you say that these displaced workers should not dwell on being laid off and then you compare your husband who has nothing even to do with Lowes. Everyone's journey is different and many could possibly loose their homes, cars and above all their health benefits. Lowes handled this very poorly. There is no severance pay for the DM's who do not make the cut for the 5 future slots. They are being forced to stay for the 12 months with pay cuts and demotion. Many can't afford to Cobra their insurance if they choose to opt out. Also if they opt out, they will then NOT be eligible for unemployment benefits. So they are forced to stay and I think that is pretty humiliating. At my store, many DM's are pushing 50 and we all know the older we are, the odds of being favored for a position goes down. Corporate America would rather pay a young person much less then a older person who is more qualified. You should be ashamed of yourself for just assuming that these good peoples lives are being destroyed. OH AND ONE LAST THING, YOUR OPINIONS OF THESE PEOPLE , DO NOT DEFINE WHO THEY ARE, BUT THEY CLEARLY DEFINE WHO YOU ARE.

These corporate yahoo's have no idea what we do. I wasn't a member of management who lost his job but I am feeling the pain because these people are like family to me. When they hurt we all hurt. What is devastating is they announced it on CNN and we get an email yesterday. There plan isn't gonna work. We're losing several managers now cause they have chosen to opt out. They have change the way the stores get hours last year and now this. Maybe when the customers start complaining that there is no one to help them with any knowledge. How in the world is a service manager gonna control three departments who has never worked in it. For the person who came up with this idea your an idiot.

To the a-- that said change is part of life it depends on which side of the change you are standing on and to the ones still drinking the kool aid wake up you are a dollar figure they don't care about you at all never will

There are ways to handle these changes, and things you can never do.

Do: keep it under wraps, respectfully call people to be let go into the office and tell them so everyone else doesn't have to sit and watch them get released.

Don't : let the world know 5 days ahead through CNBC. Don't tell us a 52 year old CFO is retiring as part of a managed succession plan only to be replaced by a 56 year old. Don't tell us the CEO making 12 million with stock options in 2016 ($4500/hr if 60 hrs a week) feels our pain.

What this is is a way to raise the stock price so stock options are worth more, to make Wall Street happy, to cover the losses from CPO operational nightmare, and a way to cut healthcare costs by trimming full time employees.

This was a bad idea badly handled. I have lost my respect for Lowes.

15 years with company. Was an asm 7 years, started from the bottom up. Lost my job to a younger less tenured man, store manager knew him out side of the company they were buddies.

dealt with " boys club " mentality. Regional Directors and Market Directors are full of themselves. This company treats all employees with no respect, and a woman in leadership roll, only if she keeps her mouth shut .

Woman are better off steering clear from this company.

This company amazes me! I have worked there for 10+ years, had excellent reviews, and am the hardest working and most go to of the managers. Unfortunately since my store manager does not care for me I was given severance. I feel bad for the department managers because only 5 keep their jobs and the rest are given time to find a new position or job but Store Managers are gonna be under a lot of pressure to get rid of extra DM's. Lowe's is lying to the media and it's stock holders because the are laying off slot more than 1%. The stores are going to be staffed with part-time associates who don't know what they are doing. Instead of laying people off maybe Lowe's should follow their own return policies, and not take back anything under the sun even product that doesn't belong to Lowe's. Of course I'm sure Lowe's pays out more in customer complaints than any company, because if customers complain to corporate they get huge discounts or their product or install for free. That right there would cover every ASM's salary in the store for the year.

I have worked for Lowes for 4 years. Lowes gave me a chance to learn the hardware industry.

I am sorry about the displaced workers, but they had to do what they did to keep the company profitable. If I return to work after my day off and told that I am a former employee I would be upset too. These displaced workers are not walking away with nothing. Try working for a company for 21 years and one day you go to work to find out that it was your last day of employment. That is what happened to my husband's company. There was no severance pay, all medical benefits were cut off at the stroke of midnight. Thankfully he recovered and moved on with his life.

These displaced employees no matter what position they held with the company need to move on and not dwell on it. The longer it takes for you to stand up again the longer it will be for recovery.

Good luck to all my former and current colleagues.

ASM's are NOT "back of house" like they said! We're on the floor 98% of the time. Everything from helping customers to code 3's to filling in at the service desk. Department managers take ownership of their areas and most in our store are former electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc. This move will ultimately hurt the service levels customers have come to expect. Not a wise move by corporate management who is too far removed from local store operations. They should all spend a month in a store before implementing anything this radical.

I was told before they even announced this that they already discussed what they were going to do with me. I was a PRO DM and was told pro is where they want me to be but with a big pay cut. I wasn't even offered to apply for the Service manager position because I'm that good at selling... And this is what they want me to keep doing... Just for less money.

Stay away! Letting me apply, get approved and be scheduled for the special Heart Surgery in less than 5 weeks after they do the mass layoff is an absolute disgrace. Like they didn't know 2400 assistants would be gone so letting even one be hopeful The Cleveland Clinic Heart program would be on option was wrong! I now have to start again with a new doctor and facility closer to my home (sure can't afford the travel expenses etc that were included in this program) never mind now I also must pay the max copay somewhere else and try to get them to do it fast. Sure it is a great benefit if you don't get laid off. My Post: As a 10 year employee with Lowes with a Heart Condition that I was told 2 months ago should be dealt with in 3-6 mths max, I was thrilled to be accepted and scheduled with flight, hotel and specific surgery dates the end of next month. Well I was just the 1 of the 4 ASM's laid off and no-one can tell me if I still can still have this surgery done or will I need to start over with Cobra or no coverage and try to get the needed procedure done elsewhere. Wonder if the cost of the procedure and the 2-3 months I would be out had anything to do with me being laid off? I would hope if still under the same insurance via Cobra I can still have the scheduled procedure, but am sure Lowe's will say sorry "it was a hard decision" like I was told when being laid off. The HR rep could not be there today and the Mgr had no answer, but said he would check into it. Like I have all the time in the world to wait and see if Lowe's will still cover my procedure or will I have to get another doctor at another local hospital. At least my family will get my "severance pay" as long as I sign the document in time before I drop dead. A note left on my desk in early January from an anonymous employee says: "Jeff thanks for all you do for this store! You are one of the best ASM's I have ever had" Not according to the new Lowe's staffing model or my Mgr who gave me a very good PMP review last year? Thanks Lowe's Former Lowe's employee effective today

i have friends who left home depot to work for lowes. They called me tonight upset about the two week drain they have been going through only to be let go. the grass is not always greener on the other side. No interviews given for the best candidate, just a popularity contest for the store manager to make the call, no ethics no surprise no values

Change is a fact of life.

Looks like Lowes summoned the big brain boovs and used their idea.

" someone once said that history never ends and never understand it until its too late"

@1nhb - sad, but true

Yes sir...that barbeque can also be used to cremate a family member.

Or maybe I heard you could smoke a fish with it.

You can definitely burn your household trash with it.

I do work at Lowes sir...but I'm working on the fundamentals of what it is to work in a hardware store.

These boxes of stuff do come with an 800 number and instructions though.

I make minimum wage.

They announced a substantial dividend for share holders of record as of the 25th of January while they are going so low to offer a reduced position to all DM's so that they will avoid having to contribute for unemployment insurance benefits. What a bunch of scumbags the executive team is behind this. There is going to be lots of injuries and claims, conversations with customers concerning how badly we are be treated and what a poor company Lowes is. This will ultimately prove to be detrimental to the future of Lowes. Lets face it, SM's and above really dont care because they are still getting their bonus and dont care about young families that they are adversely effecting off the backs of DM's. I know I could never have been a SM or above with this company, I am just too honest and I care about my team of hard working people at Lowes.

Love where ya live (work)

The Change Management team is either non existent or so poor that nobody cares