The board of dir. allowed the dst top execs to pay themselves anything. Even the former hr director made over 50 million on just options. Rockhurst isn't harvard. But local grads made millions, when peers made much less. Dst existed as a way to enrich a few local people at the top. Dst had its own stock offering in 1986, a year later the stock was taken off the market, bought back, for 1/2 the ipo price. Hallmark had bought it for their pension, which suffered losses. That was my warning sign.
6 replies (most recent on top)
Yes the ones with stock options will be benefiting the most mainly executives. Bill Stone s chainsaw is coming out and he will cut everything. Facilities will need to consolidate and downsize. They wil sublease space if the can or get out of the lease entirely. HR, legal and payroll & IT functions will consolidate with Ss&c. Phones will be limited to only managers. Laptops will not be upgraded unless it’s 5 yrs or older. Any medical perks will be gone such as wellness plans. Only Cigna is offered for medical and dental. Get your root canels done before the end of 2018. If there are other companies
Eternal DST truths:
1) Most DST associates clung to their low-paying jobs at all costs in return for 6 weeks vacation, generous health care benefits, and what they perceived to be lifetime employment. Most DST associates identified themselves by their name and how long they had been there (as if staying in the same cube for several decades was a positive thing). These associates should look in the mirror and see that they are for the most part unemployable in the real world.
2) DST execs in the upper class had way too much stock options / stock awards and were enriched far beyond the value they brought to the company. They will retreat to their lake homes while the average associate laid off today will suffer. This is a negative leadership style by a class of extremely selfish non-leaders.
3) The writing was on the wall when DST execs sold out to SSC - the associates were sold down the river like 19th century chattel. Steve Hooley walked away with $38 million. The average DST associate laid off today got a cheap white envelope with their meager severance (in return for signing your life away).
4) The massive layoff of June 2018 is the first of many more to come. Do not be fooled by what the SSC barbarians say. They are blood s---ers and they don't give a damn about KC nor the average DST worker.
5) A lot of DST veterans got laid off today who thought they were safe - no one is safe! These fools drank the Kool-Aid and did not apply logic to what was a very foreseeable future today.
6) Those DST laid off over the age of 50 will find the job market to be unforgiving and that their DST skill sets are limited beyond the world of Broadway / Thayer / Poindexter / Winchester. Sorry, but spending your day embroiled in do-nothing cubicle work and silly compliance games does not prepare you for the job market of 2018.
7) The severance paid out to the average laid-off associate will be eaten by taxes and Cobra. Anyone waiting for a future severance payout is a fool.
8) Those left behind are the true losers - they will be victims of future layoffs, reduced benefits, and are at the mercy of the Evil Empire of SSC. But most will continue to drink the Kool Aid thinking they are safe. If they put a sign in the parking garages that said "Work Will Make You Free", most would buy it as long as their next paycheck was paid out.
9) DST will no longer be a positive force in the community in terms of charitable giving and civic engagement. The only new associates who work here will be those with no knowledge or history of the past year.
10) Those VPs left behind at DST are just yes-menand yes-women who will eek out survival (Lord of the Flies style) in the ultimate passive-aggressive survivor game.
Don't b--ch at rich people for being rich. You going to give up 80% of that lottery win? Luck, white privilege, hard work, whatever. Life ain't fair, never will be. Wanna be the master of the ship? Work for yourself, not someone else.
99.9% of Dst staff had no future career path or was considered valuable. The 1% like the former Nun, turned HR boss, well she made what, 64 million on options granted over her career. Is 64 mill a bit high? Old William Deramus wouldn't even pay kcsi staff that much, they were dst' s parent company, but he was old and when he retired, dst VP pay went from 80k per year to millions. Shareholders were screwed as they were the true owners, but the board were local friends of dst. Dst never was for the average employee, you were chattle
No Hooley said DST was a growth company so it must be true. Growth of the stock price by cuts - no figuring out how to grow the actual business.
There were 2 very different classes of people at DST; associates and whatever the directors and up called themselves. The execs took so much out of the company that for a long time brokerages didn't recommend the stock due to that. They paid themselves as if they were top tier with vision and leadership yet they couldn't grow the company, all they could do was cut costs. This was a mid cap no growth company in decline yet millions were paid to a number of execs thinking they were minor Gods.