Thread regarding Lowe's Cos. layoffs

Very nicely said...as one of the asms let go after 28 years everyone needs to know that no one should feel safe there. I wore many hats in that time frame. Dept. mgr. zone mgr. area ops mgr. did a seven year stint at the corporate office before they downsized and went back store side. Became a store manager stepped down to asm to take care of family issues. I have seen and worked with a tremendous amount of great people and saw how management was "tricking" them. To interviews that are manipulated to put who they want into position to the hit list of associates who they will focus on to get rid of by watching their time and attendance (while others have worse attendance put are not said anything too) or giving them impossible tasks or time lines. Harassment complaints not followed up on...you'll have to trust us we are taking care of it. I could write a best seller on how you are screwed over but will never know it. Good luck to my fellow ex-associates and hope you land on your feet.

Amen.

I'm pretty sure most associates who are feeling the pain of today are calling b---s--- on this repost. Very articulate, but failing to mention how they will better and give the best honor to those that have served this company faithfully for years and worked their way up. Just recently read this post, and felt i needed to copy and paste it.

I work in the Whiteville, NC location--store 2869. Today, we allegedly lost one of our most valuable Assistant Store Managers--while it's not "official" all signs point to it, as he was not here today for the ASM meeting. The Department Managers were later called in to the meeting today, to where the Store Manager gave a brief preface that he was told by corporate to read this piece of paper explaining that the Department Manager position was being dissolved, that if the DM's chose to continue working with Lowe's that they must opt in for a chance at a service manager position, to which only five would be hired on as. From there they would have one year if they did not land the service manager position to find another position in our store, lest they lose their job at the end of the year. This was also the case for our OPE specialist as his job has faced the same dissolution. The meeting was very concise, and not a single department manager was allowed to ask a question, as the Store Manager said he would not be taking questions, nor answering them.

Overwhelmingly, the morale of the store shifted dramatically after the meeting and it was just miserable to be in the store today. This was all because of a promise that the CFO could not keep to stockholders--and even with this re-structuring the majority of us doubt that there will be a meteoric rise in stock price because of these measures. Our little store has seen a generous up-tick in business since Hurricane Matthew, which is the basis of us having a near unheard of $25 million dollar year in business, whereas our store typically hovers in the low $20 million(s) in yearly revenue.

It is disappointing to hear all the stories of the department managers I have spoken with today, regarding their climb to the position, the amount of time invested and hard work to climb this ladder. Granted, there are some that need this wake up call, that are not a good return of investment for the company's dollar, but there are many who make our store great. For the first time, I am truly disappointed with this company, and question my own integrity for staying and trying to climb the ladder. This is eliminating the dream of advancement, and replacing it with a culture of fear--fear that your job is always at stake now, This is ultimately proving that now more than ever, you are just a number in this store, and in any Lowe's store--no matter how much you've contributed or improved your particular department or area.

The one thing, that I've collectively gathered from talking to my fellow associates is the pretense that perhaps we will finally be rid of a very ineffective HR Manager, who tends to play favorites and doesn't aid in the process of advancing associates who truly deserve it. This also leads us to the hope that our very crude and poorly performing Store Manager will be gone soon as well. We've learned that our store is a sort of two year training ground for Store Managers, and hopefully soon, his time here will be up, and we can move forward with more sincere, involved and effective leadership.

Luckily, I am not a department manager, but now, talking among the other sales specialists in my store, we now fear that we are next on the chopping block--that the department managers who have lost their title may resort to any means necessary to come after our positions, being they are the next pay grade down. We also fear that in this new culture that corporate is manufacturing that the role of sales specialist may be dumbed down to something any floor associate could do, or is expected to do. This is a potentially poor decision that not every one is suited for or able to do--to properly serve our customers, something that is instilled and trained into us upon hiring or promotion as a sales specialist.

I do not relish the fact that I'm going to have to train a bevy of newly hired part timers in the next year and more, nor do I enjoy the fact that I am going to lose so many talented and amazing people to make room for them.

Lowe's has a motto--"Never stop improving." I really don't see this as living up to that motto, nor establishing an environment for the employee where they want to improve them self. Why try to advance in the company when it can all be taken away?

I wish nothing but the best for all the one's that have been let go or put in a impossibly difficult place today. My sympathies and prayers to you all.