Thread regarding Sears layoffs

I can confirm that one day all positions will be eliminated in BK. Three months tops

Any confirmation of what positions will be eliminated?

@3lmz So it was corporate I was just curious if my Lead from Shoes got cut because of the manager or corporate just sad how they can cut anything they want just because they think its the right choice.

Managers don't make cuts, those come from corporate. They will say for example the shoe leads are being eliminated so the shoe lead will be let go. Or they will say that they need to cut two full timers so their hours will be cut to part time or if they make too much they will be let go. Or corporate may say that payroll must be cut by 20% so if you cut the people making the most money you can keep more employees.

Each situation and cut is different. Many good people will be let go. Just the luck of the draw

Damn, wrong thread

I just found out that Sears is challenging my unemployment claim. I called Illinois Dept of Employ Security and they said it was in reference to my severance pay.

I asked IDES twice if it's Ok to claim UI as well as receiving severance and both times they said yes. In fact when you first file the IDES form says to file even if you're receiving severance. Any idea on what they're challenging?

@1dqm Can I ask are you a store manager in one of the stores? Reason is I always wanted to find out if my lead was cut because the District Manager chose it or was it the store manager that chose and had the final world. I want to know if my store manager is as bad as I am thinking he is. I feel he wanted to get rid of 2 leads instead of one of the managers because if they fire the manager I know they are my store manager would have to do her job and I know he doesnt want to do it.

@op. You didnt do anything wrong. They just had to cut. The top managers get together to discuss. They look at what everyone does and make the difficult decisions. It is no more or less than that. They have to get to a number or a %. Sometimes it is based on performance but many times it isnt. I assume the decision was made at the director level. I am at the manager level and knowing there would be cuts, I purposely slimmed down my team to avoid having to lay anyone off. And by slimmed down, I meant cut it in half.....made sure to place the associates where I felt they would be safe from the cuts.

@cct I don't know what you're implying but the answer to all your questions is no. That "criteria" you gave sounds more like someone being fired for cause or not doing a their job. That's pretty presumptuous.

I don't think I would've received a nice bonus, a star award, and a commendation on Pebble from Stephen Zoll if I wasn't doing a good job. I also think if my immediate boss was unhappy with my performance it would've been addressed, and that wasn't the case at all.

I was asked to let 2 people on my team go. I picked the two that were the least valuable to me. I didn't want to but had to and so the weakest of the group went. It's that simple unfortunately, again I didn't want to but had to pick.

@qxo OP stated he was one of the lowest paid

I think its sorta unknown for the lower tier guys the people that know are the higher ups. If some how you can get ahold of them than ya they would tell you whats up. I personally think your Boss OP didn't know, but he cared. Also in general you can see the company is dying so he maybe wanted to warn you to be prepared since Sears isn't getting any better in the long run. I know my lead seem to care she told me to look for something else since their is no future. She was the one that got the boot.

@cct- not even remotely true. It's all a numbers game. The higher your pay is, no matter how awesome you might be, the higher your chances of getting cut.

The criteria for being laid off or preventing it is quite simple. Are you visible in the office everyday or do you work from home? Does the work you do make your boss and their boss shine? Are you late with deadlines? Are you unreliable (always going to the doctor, taking the day off/half days to tend to life matters). Do you participate in meetings and speak up with authority or confidence about your work? Do you take initiative and bring ideas/work to your boss? If I were to ask 5 people in the department what they thought of you would they say 1) you are a rock star 2) Unsure as to what you do 3) not know who you are? Would other leaders question your supervisors decision to let you go? Would your supervisor struggle with you gone?

Answer these questions honestly and you will know why some people get let go and some survive

Great post @yry

A lot of functions are just being discontinued. Things that keep a business running are gone, mainly because the business isn't running, its just coasting until a good time for Eddie to drop it into bankruptcy.

Employees are told that Sears India will take over operations but thats only in name, since assistant buyers and other Hoffman employees actually have to pick up the slack to get things done.

Anything that not needed to coast the next few months or give credibility that they are "turning it around" is on the chopping block.

Your supervisor obviously tried to convey to you that the layoff was coming.

Nobody did your job while you were off?

I felt the same way when I retired.

Somehow, the company still existed after I left.

When I worked for another company that was doing it they looked at budgets and cut x% by department. Could be your boss or someone higher up decided what you do they can just stop doing. Could be you were the weakest or most expendable person on the team (don't take that as offensive--even a team of superstars, someone is the weakest.) Could be your boss thought you were the most likely to land on your feet quickest. Since you really didn't say, maybe its something that when push comes to shove they can live without or maybe something that they no longer need to do because of another decision that will be revealed sooner or later. The percentage to the company might be small but probably more in your department.

Sounds like your boss cared about you as a person. They'll probably be in the same boat as you sooner or later. Thank them for what they did for you over the time you were there and keep in touch with them using personal email, not company--never know when one of you might be able to help the other out with a reference or a job lead.

"no one else did my job when I took time off."

Says it all right there - as a basic budget number your JOB was expendable - i.e. your position wasn't important enough for retention

At least you had a supervisor that TRIED to convey a warning

I think everyone at sears has a backup plan or should, your supervisor seems like they cared enough about your future. i know my boss would not care enough to tell me those things and would happily fire me without warning. it's likely decisions are made higher up. a number (400) is picked by the c level execs and it is passed down to leaders to make up those numbers. Insurance can be expensive which helps with savings even if your salary is low. the form on your date tho might mean nothing as unfortunately your name may have been added to it later