They just hired 150 minimum wage call center employees, a few of which I see daily smoking weed in the parking lot. This place has become a dump.
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They're bringing in the call center employees to Hoffman so they can keep the employee numbers up over a certain threshold (I think it's like 3750 people) so Illinois gives Sears HQ some tax breaks. Now that those folks have been hired - I was aware of the IT build-out for that space a few months ago before I was laid off - look for call center closings to be in the news in the next few weeks/months.
Anywhere there is a US call center is in jeopardy because of the Hoffman hiring.
In Hoffman Estates, I looked online if I am correct Illinois state minimum wage is $8.25hr or am I incorrect?
ivy is correct. SHC associates would be celebrating if they made $9-10 and hour. Our ASM only makes $13.
I find it sad that the call center workers probably make as little as you say. I worked in a call center (for Sears) in 1991, I made $7.49, and I was part time. It's just horrible what the company has become.
@buu, excuse me where do you get your figures from that associates make $9-10hr?
Sears/Kmart stores pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
The only time they pay more per hour is if they are forced to comply with a state mandate stating that the state minimum wage is $10-15hr for example.
I am not taking into consideration salaried employees in HE. Since I do not know the yearly salary there. If I knew the salary there I could break it down so I know how much they are paid per hour as an example.
Lets be nice to our fellow associates. The majority of our associates make around 9-10 per hour. HE is not a dump as a result of moving these associates here. The OP needs to remember where he works and not be so snooty.
I think they are Sears employees. I see them posting on Pebble all the time.
qtq - Personal shoppers aren't Sears employees and don't work in a call center. They're independent contractors 'working' from home, they're just any random general-public SYW members who felt like signing up to be a 'personal shopper' since the program started a couple years ago. The successful few are mostly mom-bloggers who convinced a bunch of their readers to sign up under them to be sent occasional extra coupons exclusive to the personal shopper program. The 'shopper' then get a small percent of any future Sears/Kmart purchases that customer makes. I'm not aware of any of them actually doing much 'personal shopping' in the original intent (picking out stuff for busy rich people to buy), or even promoting that aspect of their 'service' much despite Sears trying to focus on it.
are they those personal shoppers?
Shop Your Way, general customer service and phone orders
Probably customer service, but probably more a way to keep the number of employees to avoid losing the tax break. I wonder which accountant did the math on that, lay off $15 an hour people who actually work then hire $9 an hour people to stand there just to keep from having to pay tax.
Maybe they hired them all to cold call people and try to get them to sign up for a 5321 credit card or create a SYW "membership"
What type of calls do the call center employees take? 88 Sears? IT? Customer complaints?