Thread regarding Barnes & Noble Inc. layoffs

What Happens If BN Doesn't Fail (And There Are No More Layoffs)?

As unlikely as this sounds, I think it might be a good time to bring this up.

There are a few ways that BN can survive and not chop a bunch of booksellers/managers, but few of them are particularly happy. Like so many death-row inmates, BN can go on breathing indefinitely. I think the most likely thing that could happen is that the publishers might well pony up the money to keep this dead man walking, in order to secure a short-term future where they won't be under the Amazon thumb. Or, another white knight may well show up to infuse some more capital into the company--there's one born every minute, and two to take 'em.

A more obvious future might be like things are going now. Sooner or later, the BN board of directors will find some clown to be CEO, and reverse the slide a bit. Perhaps Len Riggio, in his dotage, will insist that there are no further layoffs, at least in the immediate future. How will this play out?

In the last ten or fifteen years of my time at BN as a manager, there was exactly one year where the sales-per-hour (SPH) went down, meaning, it was clear not enough was being spent on payroll to insure that sales (and less importantly, customer service) wouldn't suffer. Otherwise, SPH targets went up every year, meaning fewer booksellers on the floor. SPH will continue to increase, which means ever more tight payroll, meaning fewer people doing more and more work.

Naturally, it comes to a tipping point (another term MBAs are fond of) where there simply isn't enough payroll to cover the floor to a minimum extent. Fewer booksellers on the floor means lower sales, and quality of life issues increase, and the job becomes too much, and the best people leave anyway, rather than suffer through shifts filled with tension.

The bright side of this scenario is that people who are still with BN will continue to get paychecks every week. The downside is that those folks will wish they had been laid off and found a job that wasn't so completely miserable.

The clock's ticking, guys. Get your head wrapped around a new career, and start making it happen. Because either way, it's not going to end happily for anybody.

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| 1911 views | | 11 replies (last February 12, 2019) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+XwR0Qw1

11 replies (most recent on top)

“What happens if BN doesn’t fail?”

They already have.

February 12,2018.

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Post ID: @4ctn+XwR0Qw1

@XwR0Qw1-2rdw is completely correct; while I wouldn't put it into these terms, his/her points are well made, and should be taken.

I grew up in the Midwest, and there you learned that, when a storm is coming, you pay attention to your senses. Huddled in the SM's office, I felt the same way, and got the hell out.

Here's what you do:

You realize that you are, no matter what your position, totally disposable. It doesn't matter how long you've been there, what you do, who you know. HR will have it down to an algorithm, and should the metrics point in that direction, you're toast, baby.

You get into the mindset. You love the book trade? So what. It doesn't matter. Because when the axe falls, your love of the book trade has nothing to do with it. You have to bring yourself into the idea that you can leave, and do something else.

Figure out what you want to do. Find a new trade that's interesting to you.

Update your resume. There are plenty of resources out there on the net to do this.

Get on Indeed and Glassdoor and go for interviews. If you haven't done this in a while, do it anyway. It can be scary, but still, do it.

The best of luck to you all.

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Post ID: @3wdj+XwR0Qw1

But it's not this big shocker, anymore.

If you're still employed & watching these pages, you got a full year

of NOT being eliminated.

If it happens, how can you say: My God, i'm so angry, how could this have happened?

You should have considered it as borrowed time, saved money, interviewed, found

another career option, etc.

We made it through another Christmas, which was kind of a gift, considering the

state of the company.

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Post ID: @2rdw+XwR0Qw1

To 9 year veteran:

Dang, things are worse than I thought. As I recall, after Black Monday, the MM position was enlarged--as if they didn't have enough to do--to include running the receiving room. IIRC, the new position was called the Sales and Inventory manager.

Anyway, I figured that the Merchs would be about the safest position in the company since, you know, they basically did everything. I thought ASMs would be first on the chopping block, since most stores had at least two, made a decent income, and at least one of them spent most of their time in the office, playing Angry Birds on their smartphone. Honestly, I'm no capitalist 1 percenter, but the amount of labor lost due to lazy ASMs over the last few years by the company could have probably built the Panama Canal. Also, a store that's doing four million a year really doesn't need two ASMs.

I hope you end up in a good place, 9 year.

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Post ID: @1jsw+XwR0Qw1

Maybe the lazy Store Managers will actually do some work for once if they're forced to get rid of Merch mgrs. I'm suspected new regional managers are replacing DMs. Now, that will be funny!

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Post ID: @1obv+XwR0Qw1

If MM's are being let go, who will open and close stores?

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Post ID: @1hlj+XwR0Qw1

I am a MM .Last night my SM told me my position is being eliminated and to find something else quickly before the axe falls. I appreciate the advance warning and wanted to help others by posting it here.

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Post ID: @1ize+XwR0Qw1

Everyone in my store is panicked. Our DM and monthly visitor was in with the new regional manager to decide which of us would stay and go.

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Post ID: @ols+XwR0Qw1

No one even posts their sales here. Seems to me there's nothing to brag about.

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Post ID: @jnq+XwR0Qw1

hey poster @reo - we all know that Bronko has the best posts here. thanks Bronko

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Post ID: @njj+XwR0Qw1

This is a great post - thanks OP, agree 1000% - one +1 arrow up from me

The clock is ticking indeed...

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Post ID: @reo+XwR0Qw1

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