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posted by janrinok on Wednesday February 14 2018, @05:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the almost-there-now dept.

On Monday, February 12th, Barnes & Noble fired a number of employees.

From CNBC:

Barnes & Noble is trimming its staff, laying off lead cashiers, digital leads and other experienced workers in a company-wide clearing, CNBC has learned from sources familiar with the matter.

The news came abruptly for many workers who showed up Monday morning at various Barnes & Noble locations to be notified that they no longer had a job, the people said. The number of affected workers couldn't immediately be determined. As of April 29 of last year, Barnes & Noble employed about 26,000 people.

"[Barnes & Noble] has been reviewing all aspects of the business, including our labor model," a spokeswoman told CNBC about the layoffs. "Given our sales decline this holiday, we're adjusting staffing so that it meets the needs of our existing business and our customers. As the business improves, we'll adjust accordingly."

From The Digital Reader:

The initial report said B&N had fired "lead cashiers, digital leads, and other experienced workers", but what that report missed - and why this was worth bringing up a day later - was that B&N also fired nearly all of its receiving managers in what current and ex-employees are calling Bloody Monday.

[...] When B&N fires a digital sales lead, it means they'll sell fewer Nooks. This is no big deal given how B&N's digital revenues have fallen since 2013. When B&N fires a head cashier, it means you're in for longer waits at the register.

But when B&N fires its receiving managers, it means that B&N won't have the merchandise to sell you because the person who was responsible for making sure shelves get stocked does not work there any more.

Previously: Barnes & Noble Reports Holiday Revenues Down
Barnes & Noble Pivots to Books


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:40PM

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:40PM (#637891) Journal

    America is harsh that way, and it's very much purposeful. It fits with the state religion, aka the Protestant Work Ethic. Work is virtuous. Unemployed people are losers and slackers who deserve being kicked out of their homes for being unable to pay the mortgage. Some are prone to think that God is punishing them for some horrible sins they've committed, like tolerating homosexuality or interracial dating or some such. In the US, being unemployed is extremely shameful, no matter the circumstances, no matter how much it totally isn't the fault of the former employer. The extreme importance everyone places on employment is also why the whole show with security escorting terminated employees off the premises. If you feel like you've lost everything and you're going to starve, what more have you got to lose? You get into a wild mood of despair, why not sabotage your former employer on the way out? It's not true, but being terminated is so traumatic that many do feel that way. And employers kind of like it that way! You may as well be handcuffed as if you're a criminal, that's how bad being fired in America is.

    It's another demonstration of how much power employers have vs employees, that they can pull a stunt like not even giving their terminated employees the courtesy of informing them before they waste time and gas driving to a job they no longer have, let alone giving them 2 weeks notice, a courtesy that is so routinely ignored it's nothing more than a sick joke. They keep us living in fear that we'll lose our jobs, and we are expected to be grateful to have work, and to suck up nearly any kind of indignity or insult for the sake of that paycheck.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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