Random Politics & Religion #00

What do you want upper management to do? Walk up to each employee and tell them what a good job they did that day?

Or are you going to say that Store Management doesn't do that anyway?

So, let me ask you something then: Would you keep people on payroll who pretty much does nothing at all? Because that's exactly what you are advocating there.

Do you really want to have positions where half the people work hard all day and the other half does nothing? Seriously, please answer that for us.

I seriously doubt that EB Games paid more per hour at stores than Game Stop did. Sales Rep is not a hard job, especially considering how easy their job is compared to other minimum wage no skill jobs out there.

You may be referring to higher level positions, like store manager or distribution center or even corporate. But certainly not store sales rep.

Projecting again.

Tell us on this little man-in-a-suit doll where the executive touched you.

...who said anything about people doing nothing?

They bought a company that was already up and running, and few positions should really have been redundant, as they all already had their own work to do.

Everyone would have been doing the work they were already doing, except a few choice executives perhaps. Instead they cut "redundancies" and, I'm sure, increased the workload on everyone else with little by way of a "thank you", I'm sure, let alone a pay boost to reflect the new workload.

Can you name a position in the corporate office where their workload increased due to the merger? Please, let us know this where they do a lot of the work and computers do not.

You're simply being intentionally obtuse now if you're suggesting someone can pickup more than twice what was already coming their way and see "no workload increase".

I'm wondering what position, what job that will "double their workload" that you think happened in this case.

Because you have zero corporate knowledge and I have extensive corporate knowledge, I would think I know more about the corporate world, especially what people actually do in the corporate world, than you do.

How do you go from under 2000 stores, add over 2000 more stores, and not have an increased workload in the office? Payroll? HR? Marketing? Advertising?

What about the distribution centers that closed? The employees at that distribution center that already serviced 2000 stores was going to see no increased workload?

And let's not forget that all retailers screw with employees hours constantly as a means of control. And there's no "projection" in this one, I can tell you they do that for fact.

"It's just business" doesn't cut it for me as an excuse to wheel and deal people, or to discard them when you don't need them. It never has, and it never will, no matter how you rationalize it.

Payroll is done in the store itself. Most companies outsourced their payroll systems, but the ones that keep them in the company, it's not really hard to do, and most of it is automated.

HR is the same way. Most of it is automated so there isn't an increased workload, also the nitty-gritty is handled in each individual store itself.

Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable is super easy and also automated, so there goes that. Inventory control systems are handled in each individual store, so there's no increase in workload there. Internal controls and internal audits increase workloads, but it is safe to assume that the 65 positions retained were from those departments.

They closed one distribution center. Not all of EB distribution centers. Your source even stated that.

The upper management must have felt that the capacity they currently had and was acquiring was enough to only need both numbers of distribution centers less one.

That is a projection, but I'm not going to deny that there is some sort of limit on the number of hours employees work now because of ACA.

You want businesses to be run like the federal government. Why don't you try dealing with the government and see how effective they are at handling your problems. See you in 6-8 weeks when you finally get in line to get a number to get into the next line to see somebody about helping you find the right department to file a request to talk to an agent.

Jobs are not there to just employ people, at least not private sector jobs. They are there for a purpose. And that's what I think you don't like.

I've stated over and over again what I don't like.

But it doesn't sink in for you because you've been raised to see people as numbers and figures.

I take it you never go shopping and look at the long lines and think "where are all the employees? they must be slacking off". Chances are, there are no more employees. They were either sent home or not even scheduled for the day because the payroll was "too high".

As for employees being fired after a company buying another, yes it happens. Happened around here 5 years ago. Several movie chains were buying locations from one another. AMC purchased a Kerasotes location, and had to keep the former Kerasotes employees for 6 months minimum. Guess what happened 2 days after the 6 month mark? Yup, they fired all the employees that came with the location. Only reason they were given an extra 2 days is because they needed the manpower for christmas day.

I love stereotypes.

Point of order, I renwed my license the other day. Took me 5 minutes tops, in and out of the building.

Mailed a package immediately before that. Through a private shipping company.

15 minutes, because UPS only had one person working that day and they had to take care of a specific project and had to put a "back in 10 minutes" sign on the door because no one else was there to mind the store front.

You tell me where the inefficiency and customer service problems are.

I know, I know.

"Anecdotes" are never accurate, and your broad generalizations regarding the magic of private industry is always spot-on, and there's always a great reason to treat people like garbage.

Let me guess, Walmart or Target?

Did they fire all of the old employees and hire all new ones? Or did they just close down the location?

You are championing a culture of waste and inefficiencies. You really want to see where that gets you? I already gave you the answer: the federal government (not state government, although they are just as bad, at least there are some efficiency in the state level, at least for Texas).

But seriously, I would love for you to call the IRS help line once in your life. You will see that you will get the runaround, and it is obviously because of inefficiencies because they have to transfer you to 2 different departments just to direct you to the right department. Each wait in line takes at least 30 minutes to an hour, with some instances lasting all day in line (like nearing a deadline). If there were efficiency in the IRS hotline, you would expect the people who direct you to different departments to actually be there to, you know, help you with whatever problem you have....

Thank goodness for the Practitioners' Hotline, I only get transferred once.

Location is still open. Basically, due to some rule about theatre chains not having theatres they own within a certain distance from each other, Regal bought some locations from AMC and Kerasotes, AMC bought some Kerasotes theatres, and Kerasotes went down to like one theatre. (Chicago and suburban locations). No theatres closed, AMC just fired legacy employees (for lack of a better term) about as soon as they were legally able.

god damn retail...

"oh sales are low so we're cutting hours" "people keep complaining that they don't get help in a timely manner, say they won't come back, step it up" "why are sales down, push product people"

It's worse when the store level management gets it, yet corporates tie their hands on payroll...

Even more fun when they gut full time positions in favor of part time positions, and wonder why nobody is knowledgeable of the products they're selling. 0135678

You ask this like it matters.

People lost their livelihoods.

Because there are reasons behind actions. When you grow up and discover that every action has an event behind it, you can discover the purpose of such events (besides that everyone is greedy and only you are above it all or some stupid BS excuse you can give).

So, let me ask you this, since you seem to be dodging the questions I give you by giving me incomplete or obscure answers: If you keep everyone on staff after a merger, what are you going to do when there's not enough work to give to people?

And guess what, increasing purchase orders by double doesn't mean that there is double the work, because computers are the ones handling the information, not people.

So, what are you going to do when there's not enough work to give to people, and you have half of your employees doing nothing while the other half actually does something? And what are you going to do about the negative net income you just created because of your inefficiencies?

I have called the IRS hotline before; I can't say that I've experienced what you describe. The total length was approximately 30 minutes.

However, what I *would* like is for them (and every other goddamn help line) to implement a call-back queue like any sane organization interested in helping people.

How long ago did you call, and was it to the US IRS hotline or the international IRS hotline specially made for international US citizens, who handle a lot less load than their US counterpart?

Also, IRS, nor it's hotline is not here to "help" people. I don't know where you get that idea from.

Roughly three years ago. US hotline.

Might have been lucky. I have actually talked to an agent once or twice within 5 minutes of calling them, and I have also called at 8:30 CST and never talked to an agent when they closed at 4:30 CST, I kept on getting the runaround.

On average, I would say that I would be on hold for between 1 hour to 1:30. Still not an example of efficiency.

Large organizations, as a rule, are not necessarily efficient. Regardless if they are public or private.

I highly doubt you would wait an hour to an hour and a half at any call center for any company.

Companies are, as a survival technique, required to be efficient. The more successful ones are more efficient than the least successful ones.

Part of the insane delays with the IRS are directly due to the massive funding cut the TP budget crisis resolution imposed on the IRS. They had to cut staffing by something like 27%.

Whatever you say there bub

LOL, the guys who cut their funding push a report full of forecasts and opinion to imply that all the money went to poor people scamming them.

You didn't even read the report from the House Ways and Means Committee, did you? Because, guess what, that is what that link is....

Or can you tell us which page, which paragraph, which sentence did you form your conclusions from?

It's ok to admit that you didn't read the link because the words are too hard for you. It is pretty obvious by your response that is the case...