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Politics in general (wherever your loyalties may lie) has been poisoned by special interests and lobbyists... It's a sad state of affairs when you need a Super PAC to even be competitive nationally. Until this cancer is cut out, we're stuck with watered down representatives who know they have no choice but to succumb to it in order to be elected. So we can argue talking points and sound bytes, but they don't translate into this freak reality show that is election time.
I honestly believe that many candidates tell themselves that they'll just "get in" and then make a true difference - only to be swallowed up by the sheer magnitude of it all. Obama is a perfect example who I absolutely agree ended up moderate right by doing things like staying with the Wall St bought Treasury department/Fed from W's administration... bending on the tax cuts... always trying to build consensus... never breaking through to the social conservatives (albeit he never could realistically)... all at the expense of losing some of the far left base who are turning to a Libertarian like Paul.
What any of this has to do with Lowe's layoffs, I'm unsure... But I don't understand why we can't simply take those at face value - tough times mean cutbacks. It sucks, but the folks who are in charge should be allowed to run their business the way they see fit and let the consumers decide the ultimate fate.
In the end, don't point the finger at gubmint when we all know it's the special interests that are culpable on BOTH sides. They're pulling the strings and we're letting them.
I work at Lowe's and I fully expect to be laid off when the voluntary turns to involuntary.
The most despicable thing about this is the insane pep rally atmosphere of the past year. They were telling us they were about to break ground on a new building to house the 700 new employees it would take to keep up with the massive growth.
They told us these lies WHILE they were drafting our severance packages.
THAT SUCKS.
They uprooted so many families, and now we'll have no job AND no support system.
To the jackasses who think everything boils down to talk of unions and politics...cram it.
There are real people behind this rhetoric.
You had mentioned before that the layoffs were so they could "keep the doors open," but I'm not sure that is the case. They're making money (lots of it), just not as much as they had hoped.
What more do you need? That's how much money they made, after expenses, in just one quarter. Yes, it was down from the previous year, but it's not like they're losing money.
You don't consider a profit of $225 million in a quarter to be "a lot"?
To understand what "a lot is" you need to see from what.
According to the article they had 12billion in sales.
Now you can see that $225 millions is just about 2%, which is not a lot at all (for a business profit return), might as well close shop and buy stock in other companies (gives you higher return and less headaches).
Then when you see that your competition (HD) is making better profit, to survive you need to do 1 of 2 things:
1) increase sales (very unlikely in this environment)
2) reduce costs - since I'm sure they cannot buy at lower cost than competition, they had to reduce overhead.
Now this is the only reason why they have to have layoffs (not the imaginary $180/hr thousands of Indian contractors).
Until the quarter is over, they don't know 100% how well they're doing (so although they probably meant well last year to expand, when real numbers hit them, they had to rethink their grandiose plans).
Unlike small companies, they could afford (mainly for PR) to offer everybody a buyout.
And no, getting the buyout one cannot qualify for unemployment at same time since buyout > unemployment (why else would anybody accept it?).
Sorry for the people who are caught by this (I went to this myself many years ago), I wish them good luck in find new jobs.
Bottom line is everybody in the working force needs to be on continuous improvement of his skills, the time when one can hold a job for life has passed.
It is a competitive world out there and only the better prepared will succeed.
Being successfull starts with a good attitude.
What more do you need? That's how much money they made, after expenses, in just one quarter. Yes, it was down from the previous year, but it's not like they're losing money.
If they loose money, I have a feeling that unlike GM, they're not getting a bailout...
And of course once they start loosing money, the layoffs will be a lot more drastic.
When there are no jobs, it matters not how "polished" you are. That is where this country is headed. It amazes me that people are in such denial about this fact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 28173
To understand what "a lot is" you need to see from what.
According to the article they had 12billion in sales.
Now you can see that $225 millions is just about 2%, which is not a lot at all (for a business profit return), might as well close shop and buy stock in other companies (gives you higher return and less headaches).
Then when you see that your competition (HD) is making better profit, to survive you need to do 1 of 2 things:
1) increase sales (very unlikely in this environment)
2) reduce costs - since I'm sure they cannot buy at lower cost than competition, they had to reduce overhead.
Now this is the only reason why they have to have layoffs (not the imaginary $180/hr thousands of Indian contractors).
Until the quarter is over, they don't know 100% how well they're doing (so although they probably meant well last year to expand, when real numbers hit them, they had to rethink their grandiose plans).
Unlike small companies, they could afford (mainly for PR) to offer everybody a buyout.
And no, getting the buyout one cannot qualify for unemployment at same time since buyout > unemployment (why else would anybody accept it?).
Sorry for the people who are caught by this (I went to this myself many years ago), I wish them good luck in find new jobs.
Bottom line is everybody in the working force needs to be on continuous improvement of his skills, the time when one can hold a job for life has passed.
It is a competitive world out there and only the better prepared will succeed.
Being successfull starts with a good attitude.
And no, getting the buyout one cannot qualify for unemployment at same time since buyout > unemployment (why else would anybody accept it?).
Buyouts rarely match unemployment compensation. The buyout might be 3 months of pay, but if you accept it, you might not be able to qualify for unemployment AFTER that 3 months. Whereas, if you are laid off, get 3 months of severance, you can then qualify for unemployment for 6 months from the state plus the extensions.
I've seen many people in my industry get excited about a buyout only to find themselves in a bind after the severance ran out.
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