Since Amazon took over, any semblance of job security has disappeared. There is no relief from constant stress and anxiety.
I'm starting to wonder if I would stress less if I just walked out and concentrated full time on finding other employment.
Now that I think about it, getting laid off might be a good thing for me, making me take that step with a nice safety net.
Why does everyone keep blaming Amazon for the layoffs? Layoffs started in 2015, long before Amazon was in the picture. Customers blame Amazon for every change that happens in the store as well. The reality is Regional and Global are doing all these things to save their jobs. It was their bad decisions that caused the company to fail in the first place so yeah, lets keep letting them make the decisions. Amazon makes money so I would say these are not their decisions. Now anything done in the stores must be approved by Global as if we made the mistakes at the store level. You guys discontinued all the products the guests loved and expected to be able to buy and replaced with expensive "fad" products that didn't sell and had to be spoiled out. You guys keep saying OTS and then send in ridiculous amounts of promos which cause overstocks. How about you go "back to basics" and sell the products people expect to be able to buy at a health food store instead of Tom's shoes and scarves and t-shirts that pretty much were stolen. Stop making us throw away shelving, expensive beautiful wooden displays (produce) only to replace them with cardboard, etc. Amazon said they would stay out of WFM business for the first year, probably to get to know what we are doing. Now they need to come in with a real plan with transparency. Let us know what your new structure will be so we can make a decision where we would like to fit in or move on. I say start at the top heavy Global and Regional offices. To much nepotism and not enough experience. Also, too many made up positions i.e. Forager. That position pays around 50 to 60K a yr. That could simply be a link on WFM website and one person in the office to help with guidelines, not several in every Region. I have never found Field Associates helpful. In fact I can't remember the last time one came to my store. The worker bee's are what you need. Anything above a store manager can be trimmed for sure. Guest service is always what set WFM apart from everyone else. Now we are just like everyone else except priced higher and that is why we are losing business as well. People didn't mind paying a higher price to be pampered. Amazon please step in now, show us you are here, with us, and are going to fix this mess. The silent treatment only causes speculation........
If you are young and can just stick with it, I would. I was older, in the 20+ dollar an hr. range and the stress caused me to develop physical illness. I thought I could withstand it to get severance. I thought after 12 yrs., working with an injury in which no workers comp was filed , I deserved severance. Couldn't stick it out. Hope you do. It would make me feel good knowing some will actually collect.