Seems like according to JL’s “need to perform now or Amazon takes over the world” Staples is losing the battle and Sycamore is going to shut us down for not meeting the revenue increases. Masking the cost-reducing layoffs as a vertical market rebuild doesn’t make sense. All they really did is switch people around with new books (that still include accounts that haven’t spent since 2022.) (I thought they were optimizing the books?) Now there are retention positions basically begging accounts to stay shows desperation. Firing and replacing all VPs is an act of desperation. Where is this going? Not sure if those that stayed are truly hand-picked. Who has that time?
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Let’s face it, Staples had a great run that ended 10 - 15 years ago. I remember the 17 consecutive quarters of double digit growth led by Joe D. We were too slow to evolve and it has never been the same since. Layoffs and store closures have been a constant and there is no reason to believe that they are capable of getting out of this tailspin. Sycamore desperately wanted to do an IPO but the numbers and value is simply not there. The future is anything but bright. Ironically, our arrogance about Office Depot cost us a small fortune when we were unable to buy them and they keep plodding along in better shape than Staples now. Don’t leave, stay for the severance if you have any amount of tenure under your belt. Although if you do go, you will get an instant boost to your mental health. The place is will not be around much longer. Shame really.
As a long term vendor I find staples more and more challenging. Nothing gets done in a timely fashion. Pricing updates… new product additions. Etc. I worry when I read these internal posts. But we are told: “Write another check for program and see you in a year” cause 2024 will be different?
It is very rare for B2bs to get cut since they are the ones that bring in the new business. Usually, it’s upper management, finance, furniture etc…. Staples is not stable one bit. This is not the same company that I knew, respected and loved 15 plus years ago. SMH.
Some of the top performers were let go and some people who had cr-ppy attendance and Results were kept on. Some moved to another role with a pay increase! Make that make sense. There was no human element involved in the selection process- if Staples wants to succeed-they need to reevaluate who they let go, some of the reps that really knew the business , that truly cared. I understand that businesses need to
Make tough decisions, but how this was handled and who they decided to keep is a head scratcher.
For those who were on that call yesterday and have been here more than 5 years must be getting tired of JL saying the same stuff every time we have layoffs. We got a plan this is a good plan and it’s been in the works for 10 months. Well I guess he lied to us all in the first all hands about the current plan. I also bet you in 6 months or less they will have another new plan and man that answers questions with questions can’t be trusted and to all those that do speak up most of them aren’t here anymore. Staples doesn’t hit EBIDA from hitting sales growth they do it but cutting jobs. Let’s check this tread again next November same story different year!!
They needed to get to a dollar amount of cost cuts. Leadership knew how much they needed to cut and cut the most expensive people, even if they were top performers. This isn’t the first time this has happened. It won’t be the last
This def was not ranked best to worst. Atleast on my team. 3 very solid performers were cut while the lowest performer was kept. I think they just wanted to pay out those that were cut with a solid severance and will left some low hanging fruit to fire at performance review time. That way they won’t have to pay severance on the one that didn’t really bring in revenue. I hate this for staples. The economy is hard for everyone right now and it su-ks to watch the downfall of what was a great company. It seems they adequately cared for the ones cut with their severance. It’s just a sad situation all around.
Every year, the managers have to rank the people on their teams from best to worst… That’s how they were selected
As a top performer for almost 2 decades this gave me a good chuckle. I don’t know who is left but wish them all the best. I begrudge no one but the people that lied and handled major layoffs with no dignity. Power to Amazon because they are and have been taking Staples down, the sales team has told them this repeatedly and the finger was pointed at us for not doing enough.
They kept leaders who have warnings on file for fraud in the past and even promoted some of the same people. This is facts first hand facts
They definitely weren’t hand picked. Those of us on our team that got axed were far better performers than one of the ones they kept (and put into enterprise, no less!). I think they kept a select few and then did a shot in the dark for the rest.