No Longer Bleeding Blue in a Red Apron

I was an older worker who worked at corporate - Wilkes-for more than 20 years and in the years that I worked there saw this happen time and time again. Then the day came that Lowe's felt they could bring someone in and pay them less than I was making to do the same job (and not just me). What was supposed to be 30 people turned into hundreds who lost jobs and hundreds more who took a demotion and pay cut. Our severance package less than 6 months pay. I was over 50 so there was no finding another job and unemployment was a joke! NC law says an employer can fire at will which gives companies like this freedom to do what it wants where its employees are concerned. I personally feel this law should be changed. When you consider a place like Wilkes where there are no opportunities and they just up and decide they don't want to pay you the salary you've worked and sweated for years to grow then they just decide to let you go. Can't prove age discrimination because they let younger people go too so you're stuck. It was my plans to take a job there right out of college and stay until I was old enough to retire but once I started getting close to that golden age all I got was the ax! I have copies of every evaluation I had while working there and never got anything less than meeting expectations, never any disciplinary issues, warnings, nothing! Within weeks of my being let go they were posting openings for the jobs of the people they just let go!!???

My advice to employees is...just do enough to suit you! Don't go out of your way to accommodate Lowe's. Don't miss family outings, special events, and if you have a family member that's sick stay by their side because in the long run when Lowe's is finished with you they will throw you aside like you don't even matter. You are not a person with feelings or family to support you are nothing! If you give them all you've got in the end you will have nothing to show for it. So many times I would drag myself into work when I didn't feel like getting out of bed myself and would do the best I could to get my work done and this is the thanks I got for all my trouble. No job-no retirement-no insurance....all those years I paid into life insurance was a waste too so whatever you do don't let them dupe you into getting your life insurance there. Buy yourself a grave plot and pre-plan your burial and pay for it before you die cause I guarantee you won't be working for Lowe's when you die unless it is an accidental death or due to some terminal illness....it won't be natural causes!

Take it from someone whose been there. Lowe's is not worth your effort! Get your experience there and move on. When I was in college I was taught companies spent more on turnover of employees so they appreciated people they could count on to be there. That you wanted to find that one job and one company you could stick with until you retire but apparently that just isn't true anymore.

So like I said earlier...take all you can get then get out before you're too old to find something better.

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I was a dept. mgr. for 12+ years. I do not know who thought it would be a good idea but this will be an epic failure. Home Depot tried it and you know what they failed. They had to bring back their department managers but they just call them supervisors instead of department managers. It is unrealistic to think that the service managers that were chosen can do that workload. They don't have the knowledge or know how. You get what you pay for. Most of them are looking for new employment also. It's a joke. We could have trim the fat elsewhere We had a corporate visit and we only did well because of the massive overtime done by the CS5. Yes, it was the old team who got the store together and made them look good. SMH....When you know you are driving in the wrong direction do you keep going or make a U-turn and try again. The store is a mess.

I'm right there with you all. I started out making $6.00 an hour around 20 years ago. Worked hard and smart and finally promoted and raised up to a good position and salary making nearly $50,000 a year. around 10 years from retirement and was let go due to restructuring. I was over 50 and making more than they wanted to pay. I could have stayed if I had been willing to take a demotion and pay cut but I figured I had earned what I was making. So I refused to take less and was let go. Found out later that many who agreed to the demotion and pay cut were let go after 6 months anyway so I guess in the long run it would have made little difference anyway.

Went from ope spec to csa5 without warning from the store manager with a heart made of stone! She approached me one day asking if I liked her new boots lol! She said the costs $800 bucks. What a douche bag!

Anyone left there (with half a brain) should be looking for another job! They know they are nothing but a number. I know several employees that were let go that always got stellar evaluations. So what was the reason??? Money and greed. Did anyone see any of the big wheels cutting their salaries? Disgusting company. Glad I have never worked there.

I feel your pain. I to was with Lowes a long time 15 + years. As a department manager i was near the top of the pay scale. When this purge happened i was told that i was not right for the new service manager job and i am now a csa 5. I have less then a year then i am gone. The funny thing is new "service managers" hate there new jobs. they received very little if any increase in pay and have a ton of stress on there backs. A few have told me that they wish they were never selected. I agree that this was a age thing as most of the old dept mgrs. that were not selected were over 50.,as i am. So now we get to look for new jobs and Lowes loses the most dedicated employees they had. I also no longer miss family events and vacations. i take every day due to me. Including sick days when i feel like it.

Yes I agree. I used to be a dept mgr for 11 of my 13 years at Lowe's. Now I am a csa 5. I have less than a year to find something else. They said they were being letting us stay for a year with our pay. So kind of them. The only reason they let us stay was to use us until they find replacements at a much lower wage. Since Niblock took over, Lowe's has gon down hill, more like HD now. Nobody has a clue.

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No Longer Bleeding Blue in a Red Apron

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