Thread regarding Sears layoffs

See anyone can put popcorn on a post i just did.... that don't make real news... i agree this 2000 is a stupid post, ignore it , just someone looking to get

reactions enjoy your week everyone , hang in there the end if this company is near,

• my sources tell me 2000 people will be let go. Could be this coming week but most likely next week.

@OIw2DRd-2azr - a.k.a. the corn kernal - That is so much b.s. - 2000 ???; HALF THE PEEPS AT CORPORATE ??? - they may as well file BK - go take a butter bath

2arz .... that's a bh number, a lttle more info should be posted or our post will be more than lkely concidered fake news

No 401k match, raises rare in last 10 years, no bonuses. Do get health care, which goes up for same/less coverage every year, like most health plans in U.S.

This next round will be a huge one, my sources tell me 2000 people will be let go. Could be this coming week but most likely next week.

Enough of the bickering it's actually very unbecoming.

@2t fu Do you get 401k matching, raises, bonuses or health benefits or any other goodies? just asking.

Yes and without extra pay, and I don't receive 401k matching or holiday bonuses or raises.

@01w2DRd-sgw, Mr./Ms. "Boo freaking hoo": Do you work on your days off? Just asking.

If it s---s working 90 hours for the same salary then just quit.

Find a job that will pay you for the 90 hours you work. Simple as that

Hey - if you don't like retail hours, don't work retail. Simple as that.

I did 10 years at the store before coming to corporate. I can tell you that it s---s not getting the hours you need at the store, and it s---s getting paid the same salary whether you work 40 hours or 90 hours a week at corporate.

Neither group can exist without the other.

Don't even get me started on the EBT card. You wouldn't believe the fraud and abuse we see at Kmart! You don't need an ID, just a PIN number, which is easy if the card was "sold" to you for .50 cents on the dollar for drug money. I've seen so many times when someone will slide 4-5 EBT cards in a transaction to buy $100 in soda, chips, and candy. It's honestly disgusting. Nothing we can do if they know the PIN. The cards don't even have the name of the person it belongs to on it. A few people will end up ruining the program for those who truly need it.

@1olq great post thanks

ivzz, it wasn't my intention to put you in your place and I really appreciate having a conversation about what is happening at Sears. It was my intention to raise awareness of what is happening not only at Sears but in our country. I am a capitalist and I do believe in the free market but we have bastardized it and turned it into a crony capitalist society that is funneling wealth to the top 1% and destroying the middle and working class of America. The middle class is shrinking and the working class is struggling while the top 1% is getting richer and richer by the day. Their salaries are unjustifiable, the stock market is up over 10% this year when the average middle class family cannot even get 2% interest at their bank. They are not keeping up with the rate of inflation and they are falling into the working and poor class. Those who are hanging onto their jobs at the mid level are very lucky because it is tough out there. The jobs that are plentiful do not pay a living wage and companies are no longer providing pensions, healthcare, and other bennies. The reality is many folks are working a few gigs for a small amount of cash and this is not seen. Today we don't have bread lines that wrap around the block and soup kitchens. We have government assistance and EBT cards. My point is that a huge number of people are working hard everyday and are struggling just to get by and sometimes not even getting by as they are skipping meals and hungry and the way employers, like Sears, treats them is shameful. Some of the stories and situations of my coworkers at Sears are heartbreaking. My anger is directed at the top 1% and my government which take care of each other, talk about getting handouts through crony capitalism. My anger spills into the arrogant and obnoxious few that so callously tells others to just get a new job as if well paid jobs are so plentiful.

Anyway, good discussion. Thanks. Good luck with your job.

Wow. I used to visit this board a lot and share information but have slowly stopped because of what's happening here on this thread. What's with all the hatred towards each other? It's depressing seeing people barking at each other over nothing. You guys are going to die of cancer or a heart attack if you're life is going to be filled with such bitterness. Move on and stop spending your time complaining to some stranger on a forum, do something that will bring some light to your life. I won't be back so no need to respond to me.

@dpc. You put me in my place. I am the one who talked about working one day a month in the stores. You are right. I dont know, and I did unknowingly infuriate those which I didnt mean to with my naivete about life in general. I do believe in fair wages and raises and employee benefits. I do feel bad for the associates in the stores who are struggling and my attempt to help obviously doesnt really help. I feel bad for anyone struggling to make ends meet, and I realize that things could change and I could find myself facing tough circumstances one day too. So I am sorry to anyone I offended...that wasnt my intent at all.

And this is exactly when the anger towards the executive level will turn on the mid level. The last 2 posts shows why. No one is expecting a handout, they are expecting a fair days pay for a fair days work and not to be taken advantage of. It is corporate think to hire desperate people because they know they can exploit them. My own niece said the exact words as a DM. That is what her company looks for when they hire.

The attitude that says these people can be treated horribly because, uh, why, because they didn't go to college? You deserve benefits or should I say a handout in addition to your salary because you went to college? I'm sure you expect 401k matching, raises etc in addition to your salary. Are those handouts? But it is too much to offer an employee discount to an hourly employee? Really? Are you that greedy? I'm not arguing that employees at the store level should have the same pay as someone who went to college but I am arguing that they receive a fair pay, an employee discount, a holiday party, holiday pay, raises (not to what of course you think you are entitled to), but a few cents an hour every 6months to a year.

Karma has nothing to do with intelligence nor does religion. Whether you believe in Karma, God, the nature of the universe, some other power makes no difference. I do believe no one passes through life without troubles. Eventually it will come to strike you, whether you deserved it or not sometimes bad things just happen to good people. It is nature's way or God's way or Karma, whatever you want to call it and it will humble you. Your turn will come one day. Maybe then you will learn compassion and fairness.

The concept of Karma is great for those who aren't intelligent enough to look in the mirror to find the root of their own problems. I'm so sick of people looking to everyone else to solve their issues. Just because someone has worked their way up to a good paying job doesn't automatically make them a bad person because they are making good money, it also doesn't require them to walk on tiptoes forever around those who are not in the same situation for WHATEVER reason. People just love to bash on those with money when they don't have any themselves. stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something. If working at Sears is your way of getting yourself through a tough time then that's great, but don't expect people make a minimum wage job more then what it is, a temporary bandage.

@dpc : Again, how is this anyone else's problem! I understand what you are saying, but this is a job and not a hand out. I'm truly sorry for those in difficult positions, but if they don't like their situation then they need to work on changing it. employees are here to do a job, the terms of the job require you to meet metrics for minimum wage. It S---S, but how is that anyone's fault! The company is Paying you what you both agreed on in compensation for work. Yes everyone had a different situation, but the fact remains that no one is forcing you to stay and it's not the company's or anyone else's fault that you are I. A situation for whatever reason, that requires you to take the job for low pay.

I think the true anger is at the top execs but the anger drifts down to the middle person like lda when they see things through their narrow perspective. Most can agree that at the exec level they really don't give a damn about anyone and they are in it for the their own personal wealth. But then there is this middle layer, like lda who unknowingly can annoy the crap out of the store level worker and I will tell explain why I believe so.

First the execs, the Eddie's, Leena's etc, they are in the top 1% and live in a world that the rest of the 99% ers do not understand.

Then there is the middle and upper middle folks that work at headquarters, they take orders and endure job stress but they do get compensated pretty well. Salaries are decent, raises and bonuses are available and they tend to work Mon-Fri with an occasional weekend or a check in on the computer etc. Sometimes they are called on off hours or days if a problem erupts that needs to be fixed. Most are not angry at these people until they insert themselves and pass judgement on the plight and complaints of the working class.

The working class folks can be found at the store level. People in the retail jobs at the store level come from all walks of life, they are a pretty diverse group of people. Some come from difficult backgrounds, broken families and maybe didn't have the chance for college. Some made mistakes and yes they are paying for it now. Others work at Sears as a second income. We have had teachers who work evenings and weekends, retired military veterans who were also pulling in a military pension, college students, people with degrees who were between jobs, wealthy housewives who were bored and wanted a little part time job and single moms with kids to feed. Many different backgrounds and scenarios at the store level. My situation, I'm married, college educated, middle aged, family income includes spouse's pension, rental income, and spouse (formally ret) and I each work a part time job. When my child is fully independent I plan to work full time again. I worked at Sears until they pushed me too far and I resigned about a year ago. I sympathize and empathize with many of my former Sears coworkers who are considered working class Americans. They live paycheck to paycheck, skip medical care, skip meals, ride their bike to work at 6:00 am and after a full shift ride their bike to a second job and ride home again at 10 pm. Some employees come and go quickly and didn't seem to be to good. Others are desperately trying to make it. They are working themselves ragged and never have money for a vacation or any kind of treat. They struggle terribly. And when a mid level person comes on the boards and passes judgement without knowing one's background or what they've been through and tells them to s--- it up or just quit and leave as thought there are so many great offers out there waiting is just plain rude and inconsiderate.

The mid level person is probably getting paid about $40-50,000. They don't know what it is like to see hours cut to 6, and earn $48 for the week. They don't have the empathy to understand a person working 3 different jobs balancing 3 different schedules and putting up with corporate crap like unreachable metrics, cancellation of employee discounts, etc etc, I don't have to mention the laundry list, we all know. Oh, they have all the answers, just quit, just go back to school, or just pull together and smile and the job will be so great. If you worked with the working class folks you would see people who are working damned hard and trying to survive in an economy where food prices are rising, rents are rising, everything you do is more expensive but hourly wages are stagnant and interest rates are practically nothing at the bank. They can't even keep up with inflation. These people are trying to survive in their jobs that treat them like a piece of garbage. These companies cut back the smallest things like an employee discount, a holiday party, no pay after midnight on Thanksgiving, salespeople had to pay for the memorial day ad in the newspaper advertising mattresses last year by taking a cut in their commission etc etc. And they get away with it because these people are desperate.

I know this is the corporate think, I have a niece who works as a dm for a large and thriving chain. She once told me she would not hire me for one of her stores. I couldn't believe it and asked her why. She explained that she knew her company did not treat low level employees well and that I was not desperate enough and would walk out at a certain point. Managers hired desperate people who had no other choice but to put up with the crap. That is pure evil.

So, there is deep anger at the exec level. Anger comes in at the mid level when some poster lectures to pull together and work harder and tries to compare the fact that they work 1 day a month at a store level to the life of one in the working class putting up with the crap because they are trying to survive. The mid level guy gets to drive home to his modest but nice home in the burbs and return to his office on monday. The store level guy gets to ride his bike home in the rain and get up on sunday at 5:00 am to do it all again, 7 days a week.

The gap between rich and poor is widening and i would imagine that there will be consequences in the future if things do not change. History has shown this to be true.

@wed Thanks! I am not a BU pricer. I just happen to be responsible for pricing as well for my area. And the holiday time frame is an incredibly busy time for me as it is for those in the stores. I am not saying I have the same type of hours as the stores or understand the hourly wages in the store. The only reason I am posting at all is not to upset associates in general but to say many of us are working hard.....in our own way as is appropriate for our position. And yes my one day a month in the stores doesn't solve all by any means, but it helps me to understand what is going on. And for the store I work in that one day a month, I love talking with the associates to understand.....not to solve necessarily as many times all I can do is pass on what I have experienced. There are just many many good people at Hoffman as there many many good people in the stores, and it just makes me sad to see any sort of negative back and forth between Hoffman and stores as I truly believe most (not all as it's never all) associates are just working hard and hoping for the best. I think many times there are others too posting on these sites that are trying to stir the pot. I think most genuine people just want to talk to one another to try to understand, as best as possible, what their future holds. And that is true for someone in the stores or in Hoffman. So I hope as one other poster said separately, let's get this back to trying to support one another in our jobs and trying to figure out the future as best as we can. And yes we all know that someone is going to "smugly" come on here and say get another job....drain the swamp....Sears is toast...all that nasty stuff these posters say. Don't let them get to you......and please don't think those are Hoffman associates because most of the associates I know at Hoffman aren't like that at all.

@ztf It doesn't seem that way to me. People are bashing on a guy who is from the pricing BU, That is not a BU Exec... A BU exec would not verify price loading on thanksgiving morning... Nor be at the office until 10 PM they day before thanksgiving. It looks like us at the store level need to not be so quick to judge & have some compassion.

Corporate is a broad term. If you are talking about a mid level employee who happens to work in the home office then I do not think the anger is directed at those people. If you are talking about the corporate execs who get a $700,000 salary with a $700,000 bonus with another $200,000 in annual incentives with another $200,000 in retension bonuses and another million in stocks etc etc. The same people who make decisions about store hours and no raises (because Sears cannot afford them), and demand yearly evals w/o raises, implement ridiculous sales quotas and metrics, eliminate employee discounts and really just act like a bunch of arrogant, entitled, greedy buffoons who have convinced themselves that they are somehow worth these obscene salaries because no one else could ever match their talent and handle their job, then yes, that is the corporate most are talking about.

I am an ASM at a store & this shouldn't be Stores Vs Corporate. Many times when I have emailed/requested help via email/pebble around store closing from an associate at the corporate office I will get a response at 10, 11, 12, even 1:00 A.M. They truly seem to work around the clock & are doing a great job assisting. They feel the pressure of us as well, Job cuts happen at corporate level & that job load gets added to another corporate associate with no pay increase. Have you seen corporate help from Appliances now also doing the same job for mattresses & vice versa? Cut them some slack we have not been in their shoes & they do help us whenever we request it.

"True, he is able to do this from his home computer"

Give me a freakin break.

Boo freakin hoo, he had to check his computer on Thanksgiving while the kids played by his feet.

Spouse works for corporate. He has worked at least part of EVERY day for many, many years, including holidays and vacations. True, he is able to do this from his home computer, but we have never had a holiday when he didn't have to go check on jobs. Retail stinks all around. It shouldn't be stores vs. corporate.

ANYBODY that isn't looking AT THE OPTION of finding a new job is a complete fool - Sears as it is now is toast - the transformation is taking place for a smaller company and most likely a different format of doing business --- SHLD, as a holding company, will survive - the Sears / Kmart retail formats WITHIN that holding company WON'T

@rim You should never feel ashamed of what you do. I only mentioned what we do as it sounded like no one believes that anyone from corporate is ever in the stores, and that is far from the truth. I only work in the stores once a month because I have my full time job too. I am in the stores every week personally buying stuff or just looking around. I buy everything possible from either Sears or Kmart.

I am by no means saying I understand what it is like to work every day in a store.....I couldn't as that isn't my full time job right now.

wio ... I have a college degree in business and this is where I landed 28 years ago when this company was a place I enjoyed telling people where I worked, these days I hang my head when they ask "do you STILL" work for sears, when I have to answer yes. Trust me I am in a search for a new place of employment, but I must say finding a place to go with Sears on my resume hasn't been easy. I will continue to search hi and low before I get handed my separation papers without any notice.

I also agree the comment of 1 day a month going into stores to straighten shelves is cute, whoever you are you shouldn't comment if you really can't and are not in touch with the real working class.

1 day a month that's cute

@ihn Yes I did say that. I already work the Wednesday before Thanksgiving until 9-10pm checking pricing, am in the stores checking things out on Thursday when they open and work in Hoffman on Friday morning early but YES I did say I have no issue with helping out when I don't have to be in the office for my regular work. I don't ring the registers. I simply stock and straighten. That is what we all do on our regular store days once a month....new program in our department. Why so hard to believe?

Where do you think I worked in the beginning of my career? The stores....I get why there is resentment, but no need to resent me when I am truthfully helping out as I can in my position.

What's with all the resentment towards people who work on the corporate side? There are different jobs for different types of people, skills and education. The corporate people did not put you in your situation where you have to work holidays. You chose to work for Sears/Kmart knowing this. If you had an education or a deeper skill set, maybe you could be working behind a computer?

Stop complaining. Think. If you were in the unemployment line right now, the holiday work will suddenly look attractive again.

WARN notice:

Date received 6/14/17 LWIA 7; Northeast 4 Sears Holdings Management Corporation 3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60179 =====> Approx. 375 layoffs starting on or about 8/12/17 <=====

THIS IS OLD NEWS - referring to the layoffs in June. Stop rehashing this.

WOW WOW WOW did that person say that they go into a sears store to WORK on thanksgiving day or even black friday I call BS BS BS BS ... NOW IM LAUGHING at such a statement my guess they don't even know how to ring up a sale, let a lone a delivery or a return. please stop.

Got it .....so you are saying "holiday pay" is technically only on Thanksgiving but not on the DATG.

" and then not pay them for the hours they work through the night from midnight until 5:00am or later."

I meant to say not pay them HOLIDAY pay. Sears does not pay HOLIDAY pay for anytime worked past midnight and through the early morning hours. If your shift is 11:00-4:00 am you get 1 hout of holiday pay. If your shift is 12:00-5:00 am you get no holiday pay. Then many people get home about 5:30 am and comeback for a 10:00 am shift the next day and again all through the weekend without any compensation.

f@kvq Hey I can't argue with what you are saying. Of course I have family....and of course I am not able to see all my family over the holidays due to working retail. We have a Thanksgiving that isn't on Thanksgiving....on a day when everyone doesn't have to work.

I agree that it should be voluntary...as much as it can be. I don't know everyone's circumstances.

It is nice of you to "volunteer" to work on Thanksgiving and for those who want to volunteer go for it.

Poster, qos, are you a mother? Do you cook a turkey dinner for your children? husband? parents? Are you a father? Do you have children at home whom you wish to give memorable holidays to while they are young? Do you have a parent with Alzheimer's who may be having their last holiday with some memory left. Do you have a parent or family member with cancer who may be celebrating their last holiday? Would you choose to work on the holidays for an annual salary of $4,000 and give up precious time and special holiday memories which you will never be able to redo for such a small amount of money? Some people need the $4,000 to supplement other income and it is a hard decision to lose their job or give up their family on the holiday.

Perhaps you are a parent and find that by working on the holiday you are showing your love by earning extra money for your children. I get that and respect that. Others think that spending time and giving their children special childhood memories is more important and not worth the low pay. I get that too and respect that as well. I do object to Sears forcing people(who are not volunteers or holiday hires) to work or lose their jobs, I do object to Sears not paying holiday pay to people who get up from their tables comes to work at 11:00pm and then not pay them for the hours they work through the night from midnight until 5:00am or later. I do object to Sears sending Leena out to reassure the public that their employees want to be there for minimum wage instead of at home with their families and spreading untruths that the employees are all volunteers. That is not what is happening at the store level.

It's a new program that we have been doing for the last 3 months. Really you never had HOHO either in the past....I used to do that too when I lived downtown.

I have been with Sears for 12 years and never once have I seen a corporate person come in to my store to work NEVER! So qos I don't know where you go but it is definitely not my store!