Several years ago Sears and A&E was estimated to have between 5-7% total appliance repair market share nationwide. That was during better days. Now that Sears has lost multiple OEM and 3rd party contracts and actively employs contractors to supplement/replace internal staffing, that market share has undoubtedly fallen.
There are roughly 50k appliance techs nationwide and recently Sears employs between 5-6k during peak season. That's only 10% of the available technician market. Add the fact more and more competitors are generalizing techs (i.e. HVAC techs performing appliance repair work) it could be argued Sears only employs a fraction of a percent of available technical workforce.
Some of the reasons Sears has been unsuccessful in selling off Home Services over the years is the antiquated technology (Tech Hub is too little, too late), employee overhead including unprofitable tech pay models, under-performing contract obligations due to poorly written pricing models, abysmal brand reputation and service ratings, and ESL/Eddie Lampert refusing to relinquish control over key parts of the post-sale portfolio.
No one except the board knows what lies ahead for Home Services but reading the tea leaves I would suspect liquidation. There just isn't enough value in the brand itself to offset the contractual debt and reputation. The infrastructure is worthless so the only value is in the market share itself - something Home Services cannot provide through a brand sale. Any provider looking to move in on that measly 5% market share could do so fairly easily by simply advertising - something Home Services has never done.
I've seen it written here before - but I would recommend working with a recruiter now who can pair you with a competitor before you're vying for the same jobs as your fellow techs when Sears liquidates. Your job isn't going away, your market share is. If you move right now to a competitor that absorbs your market share, you won't skip a beat - or a paycheck
A good and an isightful post, @Wb0jEaF-2rls . Think it needs a thread of its own