Thread regarding Sears layoffs

4pig-- if you give that two cents to Sears they will have ....two cents.

Yup, fixing and updating takes money, Sears has none now. But they DID. And instead of fixing and updating, they did what? No plan, no idea of what to do to bring Sears/Kmart into the 21st century.

Fixing things and updating things takes money. Sears doesn't have any money.

I understand that 99% of corporate, Dm's. SM's and store employees are in the same boat. What I don't understand is the people who keep harping on and acting like everything is O.K. If the people in charge or who are higher up know that everything is going to cr*p. Then quit stressing to everyone under you out about training, making sure everyone is filing paperwork the right way, if your desk is cluttered, if the boards in the store have updated paperwork in them, if some display isn't in the place that you want it, if the boxes are stacked a certain way (which the DM before you wanted the way it is now) if the holiday plants are in order of color or height, if our customer feedback is below a certain percentage (see below how to fix this) how many credit cards/SYW/PA etc we sign up and on and on. It just seems that the focus is on the things that really don't matter and the things that do matter to keep the store open are ignored.

How about cleaning the store instead of cutting the cleaning schedule, how about toilet paper and soap, how about shelves that aren't falling apart and rusted, how about lights that work, how about heat and A/C that work, how about fixing the leaking roof, how about taking care of mice, rats and insects, how about fixing the tiles coming up on the floor, how about hiring enough associated to take care of customers, how about having enough merchandise to sell, how about giving an incentive (like raises) to workers who keep this disaster going how about not hasseling people about protection plans, SYW and Credit card sign-ups, how about not having a conference call for 2 hours everyday so I can get some work done, how about fixing the registers so that we can check people out who want to give us money, how about updating our systems so they don't go down multiple times a day, how about letting me hire more cashiers so that we dont have lines and complaints that it takes 20 minutes to check out (see above about customer feedback) and I could go on and on and on.

It just seems like everyone who is in charge is focusing on too many things that really don't matter and are neglecting the things that could make money. Nothing against anyone, I know we are all in this together but just frustrating when everyone who is in charge acts like the most important things are the things that really don't matter. Just my two cents.

@1guh - You wrote: "Stop the corporate B.S. and tell us what is going on at corporate and when it will end. Have a little compassion and conscience to let the 100.000 plus people who depend on this company to pay bills, send kids to school, retire, plan their future know where their future is and to plan on tomorrow.

What Eddie does is what Eddie does but for those who know and do nothing or say nothing the blame is as much on you as Eddie and his minions."

You need to understand that even those at corporate have NO IDEA what sleazy plan Eddie has in mind or when he will file for BK. Only Eddie and his attorneys know. He doesn't even inform the top people right below him on the food chain what is going on. They are blindsided too. The other thing you need to know and accept is this - IT'S OVER. If you want to "plan for tomorrow" as you stated, then start looking for a new job now. Eddie's plan from the start was NEVER EVER to save Sears or Kmart. It was to rape and pillage the company for all it's worth, sell all the assets, and leave the carcass for the s---er employees. He peeled off the best stores real estate wise and put them into HIS REIT. All his talk of "transformation" was bulls*#t to buy time to complete his plan of stripping the company. People here post asking for info, practically begging for someone, anyone, to reassure them the company will turn around, to tell them what they desperately want to hear. It won't. It's over. Get out and find a new job like I did. Don't blame corporate for not giving you info, use your own eyes and brain, research financial articles and research the stock and you will see the truth you are so desperately trying to avoid.

OP here.

My point wasn't that no one in corporate watches these threads. My point was that I HIGHLY doubt someone would attempt to use this post to identify people who post here.

I guess it also wasn't fair to say that corporate as a whole doesn't care about what we thing considering how large it is. As we've seen there are people who do listen and do care and they are probably a large group.

The problem is that not enough will actually stand face to face against the methods that end up being implemented to "save" the company. And that makes PERFECT sense because of how replaceable most people are when it comes to those more sought after positions. Even if it's for sears, I'm sure there's an able and willing finance, business etc person who's dying to fill that hole..even if they know it's not gonna last forever.

pretty cool to know a wide range of people actually post here. Every time I read post I assume it's a cashier, MCA, store lead etc. THIS is what I was talking about when I said I made this post to gain perspective.

But yeah I would almost argue that the people sitting in those corporate positions are as if not more replaceable than some store employees in certain locations.

Also, the higher up in the chain you are the less that rule about sears not caring enough to figure out who you are applies. I'm sure someone would be willing to spend some money to figure out which of their high ranking corporate employees is telling the public things they they aren't supposed to. That's probably why you don't hear much when it comes to the 'truth' from those people.

Is corporate watching on the store cameras and listening through the phone system? Tin foil hat being made

People need to relax a bit. They don't have the technology or manpower to track down a potential user on an anonymous site. I wish I could tell you all how many times I posted on this site from the Sears computer in my office for months before I quit.

I understand that corporate is on the board and that most of corporate is just as much of a mess as the store level. What I think 1guh is saying is that we really don't hear anything from a corporate point of view or anything of what is happening at Hoffman. Most post on here are from store level employees which are good to hear that we are not the only ones suffering, but let's hear a little of what happens at the Hoffman Estates level. What is it like to work in the offices, what do the meetings entail, what frustrations do you have? How does corporate come up with some of the crazy ideas they have? Why do the ideas not work on a store level? What things are messed up at HQ? Just let us know if you experience the same B.S., confusion and stress that we do.

Corporate does post on these boards. You need to understand we are on your side. There are thousands in corporate, we're not all like 'them.' Lots of corporate post here with what we hear again to help us all.

If corporate reads these boards why not tell the truth? Why not spill the beans on what is really happening? Quit posting/Pebbling/emailing like everything is O.K.. Just be honest of what is going on, these are peoples lives and livelyhood you are dealing with. Stop the corporate B.S. and tell us what is going on at corporate and when it will end. Have a little compassion and conscience to let the 100.000 plus people who depend on this company to pay bills, send kids to school, retire, plan their future know where their future is and to plan on tomorrow.

What Eddie does is what Eddie does but for those who know and do nothing or say nothing the blame is as much on you as Eddie and his minions.

Ok, I was born in 1983 I worked at a Kmart from 2013-2014 till my store was closed. I worked there till the final day. I also worked at a Kmart back in 2000 as my first job that store was closed in the original 2002 bankruptcy.

Kmart pre SHC (2000) was ok for a first job.

Kmart post SHC 2013/2014) was a nightmare.

I was not a lead, I did not want the headache. But I understand everything a lead did/CS did. In fact other than the old timers I knew how to key things in by the old Kmart a Department number if it did not scan.

To keep things moving during the liquidation of my store.

I was smart enough to keep an RMU up front at my register during the liquidation. None of the cashiers knew how to use an RMU except me. If it was pennied out I did not have to wait for a price check.

A cashier did not know what a KSN was or how to use an RMU. None of them knew how to key in a UPC code manually on the register.

I was not a manager but I knew the headaches the managers had.

I think you will find everyone from corporate reads these boards, I'm corporate and I know a lot of corporate folk who follow along, why wouldn't we?

It's not that we are paranoid, it is that it really doesn't matter. The company is doomed. Whether you are a 16 year old starting out or a 40 year employee the result will be the same. Even those who work at corporate, me, don't know what is happening or when it will end. Those who can leave have left or are looking to leave. Most of us are just working to get a paycheck until they tell us to close the doors. No tinfoil hat here just reality.

I just thought it would be cool to see the different ages and positions who view these posts.

Honestly with the recent events I highly doubt anyone higher up has time to be worried about watching this thread, picking out random, anonymous posts THEN matching these anonymous posts to the other anonymous posts on this forum. THEN matching those to a person who works for the company. THEN finding that person, gathering the evidence, and firing them. The only person who would ever be identified is the dude who trying to make his identity painful obvious to anyone who works with him. It's far more likely that I'm just a random dude asking a random question with no hidden goals or meanings.

If anyone gets identified on this forum it will be because the post talked about something really specific and the post itself would identify the person..

Anyway at our store the only positions that had a steady stream of cashiers for whatever reason but a lot of other spots remained open for applicants. Some people probably should have been fired long before I arrived. And yeah, the people who remain WERE the skeleton crew I guess but no one seemed to want to work there anyway so it works itself out.

But yeah. I found this site randomly sometime before I quit and thought it was kinda interesting but never actually told anyone. I'm not from corporate, a manager, a journalist, or a spy... I don't even work there anymore.

30's Lead position. I pretty much live on this site.

Love getting news before our SM decides to announce it!

My store manager reads the boards. How do I know? because he told me so.

Sears can't afford to fire anyone? Ummmm, at my store they are desperately trying to get rid of people. They cut hours to bare bones, they have done away with positions and would love to find reasons to fire people. They are always looking for ways to save money on payroll. You must be at a busy and profitable store.

I really hate when people call my house for a survey or to sell me something and ask me questions without telling me who they are and what they want. I guess it is just good manners to "introduce yourself" first whether it is on the phone, computer or in person before asking for information. But then again it is a different generation.

Wow I wasnt expecting this amount of paranoia.

Who am I? I'm an ex hardware associate age 19. I quit about 2 months ago because I felt like it wasn't really worth my time and I would rather put the time toward school extra curriculars.

I highly doubt a DM or someone from corporate would waste their time coming here. It's the general understanding that they couldn't care less about that their associates think unless it involves PAs and credit apps. plus it's not like they can really afford to fire anyone anyway since no one is really banging down the doors to go work for sears.

As for a journalist I guess..but what good would a simple age/ position post do to help them create an interesting story?? Maybe is someone decided to put a ton of information in their posts that I didn't even ask for.... ohwait.

I GUESS I'm "collecting" information but it was because I felt like everyone posting here is like 40+ year olds. I see very few posts here that I would guess we're written by someone around my age. You guys just use a lot of dialect I feel like my father or grandfather would use. That's all.

Put your tin foil hats away guys.

There's nothing they can do to me, so I'll tell you I'm 55, ex-Sears management. Never worked for Lampert but I have talked to people who have had the misfortune of dealing directly with this guy. For me at this point it's a fascinating and tragic saga. It's the destruction of an American icon, but also a good example of what has happened to the entire corporate system. 40 years ago this company (Sears)had 400,000 well paid mostly full time employees. And the company made money. Now it's 178,000 abused part time employees for both Sears and Kmart, and the company is losing $2b a year. But can anybody figure out the problem? The solution is always to cut expenses (i.e. employee pay and benefits) even more. It's totally insane.

Was a QMT ,32 years, total with them.up and left 4 years ago due to SEEING THE WRITING ON THE WALL.. When a company spends no money to fix the things that need repairing and the word TERMINATION is thrown around like flies on p--p its time to go.. yes caught them by surprise, they never saw my leaving coming .. doesn't matter i would have probably been laid off by now, my $$s were probably too high.. Yes I am supposed to get a pension, not too bad either but i doubt there will be anything left, Uncle eddie has destroyed a once great company and doesn"t give a rats butt about anyone except HIS bottom...

Get out,, there is life after that place... I found a good job, cheaper and better health care and more $$s.. Good luck to all, the life boats are gone the ships almost under..

I am between 16-100, an associate, a DM, a regional manager, a corporate worker, a stockholder, a manager, an assistant manager, a manager in training, an LP, a call center worker, IT worker, clothing designer, pharmacist, mechanic, service tech.

I am a vendor, a store cleaner, a landlord, a small town.

I never graduated high school, I am a high school student, a high school graduate, a college student, a college graduate.

I am a divorcee, a single mom/dad, a retired senior, a student, a first time worker, a career Sears/Kmart worker, someone struggling to make ends meet, someone who is starting over

I am a mom, dad, sister, brother, only child, aunt, uncle, grandma and grandpa.

I am a SYW member, a bargain hunter, a life long Sears/Kmart shopper.

I am the March of Dimes, St. Judes and any other organization or charity that has partnered with SHLD to make a difference in the world.

So what does it matter who we are? We are everyone and anyone who is affected by the loss of this company. We are the people who have made it great and kept it afloat. We are the ones who will close the last doors and turn off the lights when it is over. But we will always rise above the greed, the corruption, the apathy and the ignorance. Goodbye

I agree with the previous replies. So you are fishing for PBGC data? To humor you, I am 42 years old, bachelor's degree in science and I work for Seared Auto because of my wife's job. where she thinks she will become a millionaire. I have about seven months in so far with Seared but I have no debt. I have management experience and I am MOD most of the time. All of my cars get up and go when I need them too. I enjoy making the people whom I work with laugh and I don't take myself too seriously.

You have to have cash in the bank in order to be able afford to work for Seared. I have been told that I could fired for this, that or the other. Really? No one comes to fire me though. I feel left out.

I am a SYW Platinum idiot member too if that helps.

ZHD

OP - people don't trust their leadership so they're not going to trust a question like this, you will be able to get the info you are looking for from the content of the messaging

To the OP, why don't you tell us who you are? Do you work for Sears? Are you in corporate? A DM or a store manager. Or are you a journalist looking for info? I am suspicious of people asking me questions when they provide no information about who they are.

Personally I don't trust questions like this. It could be easy for a manager to identify an employee. Also, since no one signs their posts, how would you know which person or profile was posting what?

If someone posts on a particular thread identifying their position or level of expertise that's different but just having a bank of information on posters on one thread doesn't matter except to collect data.