Thread regarding Hot Topic Inc. layoffs

I was a store manager/training manager for 11 years at hot topic...left about a year ago. I left making $18 an hour for a job that I now make $12 an hour. It started to become an extremely stressful environment and less and less rewarding. Benefits were barely average with a poor 401k match and was like pulling teeth when trying to plan vac time. In nj I was forced to hire all regular associates at 7.25 an hour (min wage ar the time)and I was the only full time employee for my size volume. Key holders make around 8 to 8.75 and part time assistant managers make 10 to 12 an hour generally. My part time assistant manager and key holders did not receive vac/sick time and no health benefits at all which I always felt was wrong. I was well connected in the company and was rewarded with bonuses and a few great incentives but as mall based retailers struggled more and more store managers in the region began to see less and less bonuses being achieved...it was nearly impossible and still is. I'm still friends with store managers within the company who tell me there will be no annual raises this year with yearly reviews. They did this a few years ago when the company was struggling..however they did bring back raises as things seemed to get better when hot topic was bought. It was great to merchandise the different varieties of product we carried such as Disney and fashion which everyone seemed to enjoy. An issue we always ran into was our extremely outdated computer systems with a POS that just kept being patched-simply dont have the money to replace company wide. With the implementation of KRONOS (which was not cheap but is a great tool of use properly on the proper computers) for payroll and scheduling our jobs should have became easier and more effective but after nearly a year of using it we still had major issues getting it to load properly or do basic scheduling functions with it. Another major issue was the ever declining payroll for each store proved to be a major challenge for managers to balance the daily operations such as shipment, promo changes and customer service while trying to combat shrink...not to mention district managers began to micro manage store teams more than ever which became quite frustrating. Overall, there were some great times with the company over my career there but I'd have to say that I left because the company was going in direction I wanted to be no part of. I think it's still a decent job for a high school student looking to make some money but not a practical career anymore. I don't see hot topic around in 5 years and I would steer clear from it, besides on black Friday. $10 tees!