Thread regarding Whole Foods Market Inc. layoffs

@3hbj: Wow that post was spot on. I know it's for real because I had a technology role. Our entire team was well aware of where the bodies were buried in terms of the technology. One failed project after another! And no willingness to spend the HUGE sum needed to bring the technology up to date...The stack of promises over the years could reach the ceiling. Instead, as you point out, the company used the low-interest rate environment to borrow a billion freakin' dollars and use most of it to buy back stock to pump up the stock price temporarily and dole out more options to do-nothing regional and global figureheads...and of course, hand $10 million to the douchebag who presided over this sinkhhole for so long...Walter Rob-you-bline. Bunch of wankers. The stories I could tell y'all about technology and the constant, unrelenting f&^% ups from regional and global would make your jaw drop. Like using a cheap phone contractor from over 200 miles away to install the phone system, failing to realize that this would result in massive travel charges (Imagine paying a technician over $100 an hour just to DRIVE) once the initial install was finished just to maintain it or make changes or upgrades...and it was based on insecure Windows NT. So what did they do? They didn't properly maintain it, and they had the bright idea of getting rid of those in the stores who could do some basic maintenance on it. So, certain things just stopped working over time. We were unable to send secure faxes (still required by many medical providers) and several important extensions...well they just stopped working. That's just ONE of about 50 examples of total incompetence and idiocy I could provide. Ultimately this has resulted in exactly what we thought it would...a cascading of job cuts, outsourcing, attrition (both forced and voluntary) and further deterioration of front end and departmental service. Hey guys...ever heard of the Internet? That's where a lot of people would go to buy 365 products if they could. "We think our customers prefer the store experience." Well some do, and they will like it just as well at Sprouts, Lucky's, Wegmans, Publix, Costco and everywhere else they can guy natural and organic products. But what about those who just want to buy those 365 products they really like, like the tea bags or canned tuna? Sorry, it's not available online, so what do these online shoppers do? THEY BUY ANOTHER BRAND. The biggest revolution in the history of retailing, people...and we're on the sidelines except for some tiny subsidiary no one heard of selling natural and organic products at a high price.

It's unfortunate, every time someone good leaves it makes it harder for everyone left behind and makes it even more likely for the next good one to find something else.

I felt guilty leaving but hey you gotta look out for yourself.

I'm like the undercover CEO. I picked up a part time job there years ago for fun and the discount. I have a full time job in Finance. The stuff I have seen in my store I could write a book about. The blatant disregard for policy, the shortcuts on cleaning, the favoritism by leadership, the amount of food wasted. The lack of respect by our producer "partners" . They send us all their short dated crap all the least quality product etc, while they go sell the best stuff at farmers markets. The lack of loyalty from small 'partners' who use wholefoods to get started while we absorb all their shrink..then when they make a name for themselves they distribute everywhere. The stuff I have seen in the 60 or so other stores I've seen while traveling is another book. I remember going to a store in Florida once and they literally had 400 Everything Flatbreads in this massive display. The bottom was completely expired...the middle 2 months out and the top brandy new and fresh. This display was so massive you would waste 6 hours rotating the product on it...so they didn't...and I am sure the lift in sales from a massive display of crackers was worth the shrink....not. Three years later I visited the same store on a trip to Disney and that same innovative display was there with three different types of gouda on top. I've witnessed first hand horrible customer service in NYC, lazy chatty team members ignoring customers that they obviously credit. The AC job I worthless from a leadership standpoint. They do nothing...yes nothing...I say that completely unbiased, but I have been there over 10 years. Someone needs to educate me if I am wrong. There are still tons of product in every store I visit with either the wrong price, an outdated sale tag still hanging, no price, or no tag. This company spent 1 BILLION of BORROWED money on buying back it's own stock when the technology it uses in 75% of its stores needed 1 BILLION in upgrades...ok, maybe I exaggerate that, but the 1 BILLION could have been much better spent on infrastructure and efficiency in an effort to be more competitive. Instead they cut labor, because as much as they preach that the team members are the heart and soul of the company, they are a big expense to them, especially with healthcare expensed rising almost 10% annually. If this company isn't sold over the next two years, the stock will eventually see $15 or lower as they close underperforming stores. And others aren't doing any better. Sprouts, the whole foods killer will see $10...this market is completely saturated with players. Lucky's, Sprouts, Earthfare, Nugget, The Fresh Market and other niche players that don't even include the big boys...all taking a little piece of the pie. And America's Healthiest store is seeing it's best year over year comps in ALCOHOL sales....combine that with all the fattening food they sell in the pubs, and how healthy is this grocery store anymore. My local Shoprite is now selling responsibly farmed fish with no antibiotics, and sustainably sourced wild fish...can't wait to thee the a-hole seafood AC next time and ask him again, what differentiates our shrimp from Vietnam again?

@2vuw- Thanks for the reply.

My post was an attempt to stand the "get a better job" response on its head. As far as I'm concerned it's like saying, "why doesn't everyone in America pay $100,000 and we can get rid of the national debt". It looks good on paper but ignores the situation of individuals involved.

Many of us are married with children and have a mortgage, or car payment, or whatever. Some of us are single parents, or caretakers of elderly or disabled relatives, or have certain disabilities ourselves. Not everyone has the ability to take the risk to up and leave, and many do not have much time to devote to job searching. Most of the best people who could afford the risk have already left. In the meantime the fine folks who couldn't then are left to bear the weight of those who left as well as those who have nothing to lose by skating by at others' expense.

I too do not expect things to get better. But I do see the way things could be, as do many of my colleagues. I am glad the company is suffering. I've seen and endured highly unethical and exploitative practices and situations, and I feel the rot is finally showing through the shiny exterior. I know more good people will get hurt, and I hope that they are able to prepare and protect themselves somewhat. Every situation is different.

I myself have been around long enough that I'm sure my services are priced above market. The way I see it is that each check is a small victory, adding just a bit more to my strength until my day comes. And when it does I will take what is mine and never look back.

As a buyer, I expect that day to be within the next year or two. And as an experienced patsy I am expecting to be forced out without severance under questionable circumstances to save some screw-up in management from actually taking responsibility. After all, I didn't choose my handle for the season! Perhaps one day I will be free to tell my full story here. But in some ways it has already been told and retold many times over.

As for my own plan, I am working on developing outside skills, saving money, and holding pto. And I'm also rooting for the global bureaucratic misdirection that may delay the building of the robots that will inevitably replace me. I just hope my preparations will prove adequate and that my at-risk colleagues are fortunate enough to be able to prepare as I have. Only time will tell.

Most wfm employees look like they're homeless. If you cleaned yourselves up a bit maybe you'd be able to get better jobs. It's sad to see a 30 something guy lamenting his crappy shelf stocking job when he's got nasty dreads and a shaggy beard... geez no wonder dude.

My hourly wage might be higher, but my weekly isn't. That's why I'm willing to take any other retail job except dollar store or gas station.

1bgh - no one is saying you deserve shabby treatment, but retail is notorious for being bad places to work.. disrespect, bad hours, low pay etc.

You don't deserve to be treated poorly and it's not your fault, but you shouldn't expect a whole lot when your position can be filled by any joe off the street. Hence the "low skill" classification and all the bs that comes along with it.

I think the point he was trying to make was that there's no incentive for the food service industry to make sweeping changes to how it treats workers. There's always gonna be high turnover as long as there's no compelling reason to attract or retain talent - why should there be?

Hey if you're happy with what you're doing that's awesome. Wfm needs good people. But all the people here moaning and groaning about how things are really need to just shut up and get a better job cause it ain't gonna get any better.

I am going to have to be fired before I will leave. The company isn't doing well....sales at my store keep dropping below projection...week after week. Holidays were so-so.

Here we are.

@1sdh- well, if that's the way it is, might as well stick around until they toss me out back with the rest of the trash. After all, it's my own fault for not having a better job, right?

I think part of the problem is the company try's to pretend they care about its employees still. Just come out and say we don't care if your happy just do your job and shut up. I think that would soften the blow of the changes but that's just me.

You're right this does happen at all companies, but retail is notoriously high turnover, brutal business. Any company who's majority of employees is considered "low skill". That's just how it is.

I think it is like this at most companies now. I understand there is this idealized version from the past but I really feel that changed almost 10 years ago. This is a corporation and it treats its employees the same way corporations do. All of the things everyone complains about goes on at most companies. I realize that this used to be a place where people felt they would be treated holistically and it had all of those pro-member happiness rallies but change is the hardest thing to accept. I hope everyone can catch up to the present because in the real world you can go wherever you like, but most employees and corporations complain about the very things you complain about but for way less money. Sometimes it even sounds like entitlement; the complaints. I agree that people should be treated fairly but my point is this happens everywhere. I hope you find peace because things have changed and our country seems to be ruled by corporations. It's an epidemic and it's not just here.

Severance please!

The company is in a bad way. You just don't close 3 facilities or rather announce the closings right before the end of the only qaurter in which you can bank on positive comps and expect things to be good. Take a look around. Look at all the people who have been "separated" for bogus reasons and trumped up charges. This qaurter they banked on lowering prices to show comps and they will not show any for this qaurter. Closing facilities and cutting payroll from stores (never regional) is plain and simple another move to cater to Wall Street. Don't be fooled.

The sky is falling. ..... whaaaa

there are 91,000 employees, there isn't room for everyone to move up even if they wanted to. Business is like Mt Everest, only a few make it to the top because there isn't room there for everyone and each ;evel becomes more difficult to break through.

From a product standpoint, you can see the quality of the products declining as they outsource to save labor and benefits (fringe is a huge expense). The shrink is ridiculous in all the stores I visit, yet management refuses to innovate away from massive displays that wind up in the trash bin.

To be honest, 6 months ago I was sure they would be sold. Now? I am sure no one would want them, because most are doing what they do now and some even better already. Next they will start compromising their standards on banned ingredients to extend shelf life on prepared foods...Netamyacin is used as a mold inhibitor in many products, like cheese shreds, crumbles feta, PFDS salads etc. It's banned by whole foods, but used extensively at Wegmans and other conventional grocers and no one seems to care....they love those stores. The North East region has started using an alternative to Netamycin in the soup. Only way I noticed is because last time I was at ne store I bought soup and noticed the sell by date was really long.

Good post