Our manager on duty told us today at our morning meeting before the doors open NOT to read or refer to this website or write on the website on the clock or in the breakroom. She said that we all had signed (initial) a paper over a year ago not to defame the company in social media sites.
She said managers were checking daily for comments left here.
She also said it was started by ex-employees who are bitter and trying to start rumors of bankruptcy and other stories that are not true.
"My ASM is gone !
Has the next round of layoffs begun ?
Someone asked where she was , SM just said “ she’s no longer with the company “
When asked why, answered “ that’s all I can say. She’s no longer with the company “
She had 14 years in !"
This is pretty unusual; if you're in management and able to not get fired by ten years, you have to have had f---ed up pretty spectacularly to get the axe after that. The last time I saw that happen when I was at BN, it was over a s-xual harassment beef. Naturally, the SM won't say anything about it--HR issues require everybody to sport Zip-lok mouths, and the old trope "leaving the company to pursue other interests" is usually sported.
Wow, is this the next round? Or
do you have any clues, was she written up and fired?
My ASM is gone !
Has the next round of layoffs begun ?
Someone asked where she was , SM just said “ she’s no longer with the company “
When asked why, answered “ that’s all I can say. She’s no longer with the company “
She had 14 years in !
THINK ABOUT IT, why would they want you to read a website that tells you every rotten thing they've done to their employees? Or how HR and Corporate really works. Or why the DMs make their rounds to decide who goes.
My SM on phone with DM( at Customer service)
“ the next one who asks me about that site. I’ll make an example out of them. Then maybe they’ll stop talking about it “
GREAT JOB ALL! KEEP IT UP !
It’s driving them crazy! ( crazier!)
My sm said, for your own sanity, do not waste your time with any of these "doom & gloom" social media sites, because it's former employees recycling false information.
I do like this manager, has always been very honest/straight forward with me in the past.
Good point, commenter below me. Our SM very rarely talks to us about sales anymore. They just tell us to SELL SELL SELL, SELL ANYTHING!
Too bad I have to work the registers or I could!
Fake news? 😂😂😂😂😂 How original. I believe someone else is giving their employees the fake news. Ask to see your stores sales as compared to other years. Ask if corporate has a CLEAR vision of where the company is going. How does your store look physically. Can you even find a book it says you have. How many of your customers say "I will just order it from Amazon ." Since they let all the knowledgeable and most dedicated employees go last year, are you seeing a good impact from that 40 million they supposedly saved.
“everything is fine. we’re doing fine. anything said otherwise is fake news.”
quote from captain of the titanic
or bn manager?
Mgr , this morning said this site “ is undermining BN’s objective “
Which objective? To close suddenly without everyone aware?
Cut more positions?
This page is all anyone talks about at the store.
Morning meeting,just happened,NY.
Boy these guys HATE this site. All their doing is letting booksellers who didn’t know about it, want to go to it. Called it “vile”, “lies”, , and yes, he called it “evil”.
Good job! They’re on the ropes !
"I'm personally glad they're getting exposed. It sounds like certain people got on a big power trip and took it out on too many good people. They must've known one day it would catch up with them."
I personally don't think that people (in New York) got on a power trip, which led them to slicing down 1800 (or more, who knows?) booksellers last February. I think it was probably Demos the Great, who can read a P&L as good as anybody, and rather coldly ordered Black Monday. Thankfully, Demos the Great is now Demos the Unemployable, the stiletto delivered, no doubt, by Len Riggio. Now, Len Riggio, owner of racehorses and Murano glass chandeliers, is probably not a gigantic Friend of the Working Man, but then, he did build the company into what it became, and I myself have a soft spot for Len.
The problem now is cold economics. When things start going south, people in charge start panicking, and they do things that they normally wouldn't do. Two things are going to happen--BN is going to run out of money, or they won't. If they do, everybody still there is going to get plenty hurt. When the paychecks start bouncing, it's going to be a dedicated bookseller indeed who will continue to show up for work to mark everything down. If BN doesn't run out of money, maybe, just maybe, they can slog along, and not lay anybody else off.
I wouldn't bet on it. Len's getting old and wants to cash out. The next Demos the Great is waiting in the wings.
"This is fascinating. I can't wait to read more. Anyone have some good bombshells to drop?"
Well, here's a bombshell for you right now, @XEqBXNH-2jsa--there are six hundred SMs and probably over a thousand ASMs still at the company. This is to say nothing of a few dozen DMs, many of whom know when the next bombshell is coming.
The problem for the company is, they sell books. Booksellers tend to be free-thinkers, and since they're not selling bonds on Wall Street or swamp land in Florida, they also tend to have souls and detest what the company has become. After a long day going over spreadsheets of how much store A has in toilet paper and how many Brother copier cartridges store B has, or conference calls about how to move more Member Cards, or whatever, these folks might well pour a few too many shots of their favorite adult beverages and visit this site. And let things slip.
Sixteen hundred managers and DMs. That's a lot of people to trust to keep secrets.
Sleep well, @XEqBXNH-2jsa.
I'm personally glad they're getting exposed. It sounds like certain people got on a big power trip and took it out on too many good people. They must've known one day it would catch up with them.
I wonder what we'll read next.
"This place is about "anonymous" as We Listen.
Management is aware & monitoring, this has been alluded to in recent meetings.
Specific folks are pointing out specific DM's in specific regions.
I wouldn't do it, if presently employed, especially."
Some good advice right here. I honestly don't know what's going to happen when things start getting tough--or, more exactly, more tough, because they're pretty tough right now. I would recommend--as this sage poster does--that folks here keep their locations and personal beefs with superiors as opaque as possible. I'd hate to see anybody getting the boot over some absurd "social media" jam.
This is fascinating. I can't wait to read more. Anyone have some good bombshells to drop?
I do think they knew, but i'm not sure how long.
A music lead was transferred to cafe lead, i believe, along with a mag lead.
If you were a solid, semi versatile, non complaining type, i think you got saved.
Just my opinion, and what i saw.
Yes, they knew exactly what was happening. In our store they changed people's positions in order to protect them. If they didn't want to keep you, they'd leave you In a position that was cut.
They did know because I also knew that it was coming.
Why do you fools keep saying "managers knew ahead of time" Sure they did...you think the big wigs would ever trust the managers ---600 plus with that kind of news..Yea right..They don't trust each other
Maybe they're worried about all of the dirty rotten things they've done to good employees over the years. And I hope the Corporate Office does read this, then they'll know that we know there's a trail of people who have been wronged, long before last February.
My Mgr told us this morning ,no layoffs, no closing. This site is “fake news” , she said.
NOW, I’m worried!
In your morning meeting, did your manager happen to say that you were all safe from the pink slip?
This place is about "anonymous" as We Listen.
Management is aware & monitoring, this has been alluded to in recent meetings.
Specific folks are pointing out specific DM's in specific regions.
I wouldn't do it, if presently employed, especially.
a) it doesn't matter what you signed with regard to social media, it won't hold up in court because you can't sign your rights away and you're not under contract.
b) Speaking about your work conditions is PROTECTED SPEECH under Federal Law. The fact that your manager told you what you can and cannot say and where you are allowed to say it is already a breech of this, and you'd probably have a decent complaint should you wish to persue one. The obvious downside is that this process would be long and costly, and there are plenty of unrelated reasons you could be legally fired.
c) You should Google the NLRB and read up on your rights at work. You should also talk to your coworkers about workplace democracy and get involved with your local DSA. You can also contact the IWW but their resources are not great.
Former booksellers and current ones have the absolute right to come here and post. This isn't a "social media" site anyway. That's Twitter and Facebook.
Managers can go to blazes.
Besides, the managers should be complaining too. Do they like being overworked?
“She said managers were checking daily for comments left here.”
Good !
You managers knew ahead of time and lied to your Newsstand, Bargain, Receiving, HCs, & Digital leads ! That makes you as bad as corporate for flushing so many careers down the c-apper. Can’t wait till it’s your turn to be tossed out. You lie to booksellers? Your DMs are lying to you about what’s going on !
You’re all trash for how you treated good loyal employees!
Was with BN so long , I thought that’s how companies did business. I am not a “bitter ex employee “... I could not be happier! I’m now with a great company that values their employees. So, to that manager telling her employees lies about this site. She must be real mad ,the truth ( and not BN spin) is available to booksellers.
THINK FOR YOURSELF! if they tell you to not pay attention to something. They’re trying to keep it hidden.
I know our manager is reading it, when she isn't on Twitter all day.
I love this site.
Any manager reading? I LOVE IT.
I was on my break and I did some research for you.
QUARTERLY FINANCIALS:
Net Income -27.39M
Operating income -26.76M
Revenue
771.19M
DOWN 2.52%
Cash on hand
11.19M
DOWN 1.17%
Cost of revenue
545.84M
2.95%
Bankruptcy can't be far from the truth. If you look at the stock reports BKS has been tanking since 2015 and flatlining since.
Maybe a new Nook will save the company!
Seems like that manager is nervous what is getting out, hmm?
From a company who expects loyalty & employees signature that they won’t speak badly about BN, and made fired employees sign the same loyalty oath, they sure didn’t keep their word. LOYALTY means NOTHING to them... Post away employees.
DONT believe their hypocrisy!
Read and monitor away management! No one is bitter now that we have great jobs after leaving B&N! We post comments to let current employees know that there are much better employment opportunities out there. I know some employees are scared to start new careers after working in one place for over 10 years but you can find a job were the management truly cares about you. The job search is difficult and but you can do it. Start now so your co-workers don't become your competition for the job you want. Once B&N closes, everyone is going to be after the same jobs with the same skill sets. As to "ex-employees who are bitter and trying to start rumors of bankruptcy and other stories that are not true", honey, just google Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy and read what pops up. Good Luck to all of you. B&N employees are the best and deserve better.
Sounds like s Dictatorship.
I’m NOT an ex employee.
I’m a CURRENT employee who has shared which will turn out to be truth rather than rumor.
THAT’S why they don’t want you reading it!
The managers LIED to all those let go , last year. Told them Newsstand, Bargain and Receiving positions were safe. If anyone left they wouldn’t be replaced, but their jobs were theirs as long as they wanted them. They knew full well those positions were being eliminated. Those let go believed management.
DONT YOU !
They’re struggling to CONTROL the info you receive!
The Topix site has been shut down, so this is the only site to complain. Lowes cannot track anything you say on this site. ALL computers at all the stores come up with the same location. It comes up with the corporate city and ID. There isn't a damn thing anyone can do to find you. Lowes is always so afraid of everyone finding out what sh*t they are pulling. On Topix, the poster "P--p Toast" was legendary for telling the secrets and plans of corporate and really shaping what corporate did in some situations. Everyone read Topix. I guess now everyone will read the posts on this site, if they aren't already. Good Luck Lowes on your Spring hiring hahahahaha