If you are in a kmart store, first they will layoff all full time associates, except one softlines, one hardlines,and human resources. All assistants will be laid off also. There will only be a store manager, and key carriers. They will create a hardlines and softlines hourly positions for area supervisors. These will most likely be part timers that are left. They will tell you that no more layouts will be done at this time. The stockroom purge will begin. They will send people from other stores to help get the merchandise on the floor. From the layoffs to the actual time they will start to close the stores will be 4-6 months. They will tell you that it is to make the store profitable. It is to prepare it for liquidation. Those stores that laid people off in feb, will begin liquidation in July or august.
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The reality is that ALL K-marts will ultimately close. K-mart does not stand a "snowball's chance in Hell" of surviving. Those that can find other employment....should seek it soon.
Data leads and specialists are laid off too, or may become the hardlines area supervisor. Usually by the time the assistant mgr. Is laid off, there is only one in the store. Data and resets are put on hold. No more zero outs. You will get what they send you. If you have 2 asst.mgrs, you will be safe a little longer
From what I've seen the layoffs come in bunches, so you might lose a ASM and a couple other full time employees that are to be replaced with PT associates who they want to do the same job with more work load and pay them less. So basically they would fire a salary ASM and replace them with an hourly PT front end lead who they will be paying peanuts compared to the salary the ASM was making to do the same job.
Do they usually layoff the specialists too? And asms? and day and night supervisors?
Yep, this all sounds spot on from my experiences and talking to people from other stores. The stockroom purge is the #1 sign, and once the helpers from other stores come in that's when things start to speed up.