A Little History Lesson for the Doomsayers

For all those doomsayers who claim the recent announcements surrounding site closures/consolidation spell the end of ADS, here's a bit of a history lesson from just over a decade ago:

Two site closures in 2008 (Dallas, TX & Jacksonville TX), a total of 480 associates laid off. Sound familiar?

https://www.insidearm.com/news/00014623-embattled-alliance-data-to-layoff-480-in-/

Despite the layoffs & site closures in 2008 and battling through the worst recession in decades better than most companies did, within a 10 year span after 2008, ADS opened several more sites (Westminster, Rio Rancho, Couer d'Alene, Akron, Salt Lake, expanded W@H headcount across all sites significantly, etc.).

My point is that companies go through ups and downs and have to make tough choices in an effort to survive long term and keep shareholders happy, and ADS is no different in that regard. However, I think all would agree the recent layoffs and announcements could have been handled much better and strategically to minimize the impact to our associates and customers the changes have had, especially in areas who provide support to our associates, which were hit the hardest. ADS isn't a villain folks, It's business in America in 2020 that is a slave to shareholders...just as every other publicly traded company is.

I'm not a high up leader or executive. I need this job. Desperately, just as most who come here seeking information do. I'm just a regular person trying to support their family while keeping my sanity intact. You can choose to hate ADS, become bitter and fool yourself into thinking other companies are better ("grass is greener"), only to be let down again when the next company has to make their own difficult decisions at some point, leaving you to feel betrayed again. The other option is you can come to work each day and give it your all and be part of the rebuild and hopefully ADS will rebound much like they did after 2008. I choose to do the latter.

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10 replies (most recent on top)

To mr 20 yr of service guy
Wow what made you stay at an awful place soo long?!
I came in with a fresh pair of eyes.
Btw thats a new business initiative by companies and i bounced quickly
My new job has a pension account and 401k
Im much happier im actually making an impact versus saying i work for a place that charges late fees to folks with compromised credit

Btw late fee for being 1 minute late is not an industry standard
Millenials are gettitng hip to this
They use other cards that offer better more competitive incentives
Yes grass is greener on the other side.
My new job has an actual pension
In addition to a 401k plan.

The significant difference between this restructuring and 2008 is that the previous event was a product of the recession, whereas this current debacle is the culmination of poor leadership. The homegrown ADS technical platform is a complete disaster, which should’ve been addressed many years ago, and the seesaw of organizational structure philosophies the past few years was comical.

There is a lot to unravel here.

So I agree, people shouldn’t be so bitter. This is the reality of working in a big corporate environment. The “family” sh– that gets pushed is pretty standard corporate jargon that you shouldn’t be trying to believe that sincerely. The fact of the matter is Alliance Data is losing in the marketplace, clients are struggling and as a publicly traded company the investors are calling the shots here.

That being said..the comparison to 2008 is pretty weak.

#1 They literally tried to sell the company in 08 and it fell through

#2. I’m sorry for the way this sounds, but from a strategic perspective there is a big difference between shutting down a couple call centers and the deep cuts they made to the Easton campus where numerous thought leaders and key contributors were eliminated. The kind of experience that was lost would be a pretty poor move if the play was to turn this thing around.

At this point I just struggle to see how a sale isn’t the inevitable conclusion here. There are too many problems with the infrastructure of the organization (corners that were cut back when the money was there to address them) and seemingly not a big enough war chest to truly shift the business model enough to be effective.

LMAO. I have been here over 20 years. You gave no idea what you're talking about.

Really not. I have worked for billion companies
They really so treat you better
And i have witnessed massive layoffs
And no company did it as bad as ALLIANCE
I PREDICTED THE 1..7.2020 POST
bcs i been there done that. Its like alliance followwd the blueprint but they did it game of throne style.. just dont tell no one nothing Nd fire them with no warning. See most companies give their employees a buyout options in advance.

It's the same grass when you go work for any other bank or credit card company, all profit on late fees, it's an industry standard, because...America.

Grass is soo much greener on the other side than saying we make revenue from late fees.

Exhausting read
But wish you the best

Brainwashed,post below

Thread regarding Alliance Data Systems Corp. layoffs

A Little History Lesson for the Doomsayers

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