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
Related Stories
Barnes & Noble will shift to smaller stores and is turning to books to attempt to save its business:
The retailer had hoped that toys, games and other items would shore up its results, especially as Amazon.com Inc. ate away at its traditional business. But its non-book sales have flagged the past two quarters, and now the company is putting its focus back firmly on reading.
Barnes & Noble will "place a greater emphasis on books, while further narrowing our non-book assortment," Chief Executive Officer Demos Parneros said in a statement.
The failed foray is just one of the challenges bearing down on the chain. Customer traffic is down, and Barnes & Noble is losing market share. Though the release of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" reinvigorated sales a year ago, the company is now paying for that blip: Same-store sales fell 6.3 percent last quarter, with about half of that decline coming from the drop-off in Harry Potter demand.
Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book business also has languished, a further sign of Amazon's tightening grip on readers. It all added up to a loss of 41 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter, compared with a deficit of 29 cents a year earlier. Analysts projected a 26-cent loss for the period, which ended Oct. 28.
Barnes & Noble may benefit from short leases, allowing it to close or downsize stores as needed. New stores may be only about 40% as large as the average existing location.
Headline credit where it is due.
Also at WSJ:
"There's too much stuff in the stores," said Barnes & Noble Inc. Chief Executive Demos Parneros, in an interview after the company's earnings call. "We're drawing a line in the sand and reducing the assortment of gift items and what I'd call tchotchkes. For example, we love journals. But we have way too many. We're refocusing on books."
Related: Amazon Opens Physical Bookstore in Seattle
Amazon Books Opens in New York City
Barnes & Noble reported their sales from the 2017 holiday quarter, and the news is not good.
B&N today reported holiday sales for the nine-week holiday period ending December 30, 2017. Total sales for the holiday period were $953 million, declining 6.4% as compared to the prior year. Comparable store sales also declined 6.4% for the holiday period, while online sales declined 4.5%.
Entering December, the Company was encouraged by the comparable store sales improvements throughout the second quarter and into November. However, sales trends softened in December, primarily due to lower traffic.
The Company's book business declined 4.5%, outperforming the overall comparable store sales performance. Declines in the gift, music and DVD categories accounted for nearly half of the comparable store sales decrease. The Company said it remains focused on executing its strategic turnaround plan, which includes an aggressive expense management program.
The keywords are "aggressive expense management program," which translates to "lowering" the cost of employees, and closing and downsizing stores.
Previously: Barnes & Noble Pivots to Books
Barnes & Noble just fired CEO Demos Parneros after fourteen months on the job.
Barnes & Noble said Tuesday that it has fired CEO Demos Parneros for violating company policies.
The company did not specify exactly which policies were violated. It did say, however, that Parneros' termination "is not due to any disagreement with the Company regarding its financial reporting, policies or practices or any potential fraud relating thereto."
Parneros will not receive any severance and is no longer a director on its board, the company said in its statement. Barnes & Noble said it fired Parneros under the advice of its law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Barnes & Noble said it will begin its search for a new CEO and that it has tapped a group of leaders to run the company in the interim. That group includes chief financial officer Allen Lindstrom, chief merchandising officer Tim Mantel and vice president of stores Carl Hauch.
Parneros joined the company in 2016 and was named CEO in 2017. He was previously president of Staples' North American stores and online.
Barnes & Noble's prior CEO was Ronald Boire, who lasted eight months on the job before being fired.
Previously: Barnes & Noble's "Bloody Monday"
Barnes & Noble Reports Holiday Revenues Down"
Barnes & Noble Pivots to Books
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 14 2018, @05:40PM (15 children)
I think B&N is in for some rough times. They had an advantage in being better than Borders, so they outlasted them to become the only real new-book chain left in America, but that just means they were the winner of a dying business. Thanks to Amazon, they're losing with both ebooks and regular publications, and all those big mall stores are a big expense and overhead cost that Amazon doesn't have. I think there's still a place for physical bookstores, but not with the huge square footage in prime locations that B&N stores normally have.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jdavidb on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:16PM (6 children)
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:26PM (5 children)
The existing options don't really do justice to how I agree with that. Not exactly nostalgia. +1 Fond Memories?
I miss Waldenbooks too. Used to buy a book every other week and eat a small ice cream in the mall at a small table next to the big fountain while I read. Sometimes look at video games after in another store. Now its just women's clothing stores for the most part.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:42PM (3 children)
B. Dalton and Waldenbooks were ok back in the day when they were the only game in town. Then Borders came and disrupted things, with nice places to sit and drink coffee. B&N tried to copy Borders, but they don't have the selection, organization and atmosphere. I miss Borders. I don't care if B&N disappears.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:41PM (2 children)
My favorite was Tower Books back during its heyday of weirdly shaped blue bookshelves (It was like two rows of regular shelves with an angled section at the bottom.
They weren't always the cheapest, but they regularly had selections of books you couldn't often find anywhere else. Ironically their big failures came as a result of expansion into Japan, which they subsidized with their American stores, Borders coming in and undercutting them by 25 percent on everything until they were gone (then jacking their prices up to retail and then beyond retail), and their decision to damage their book stock and replace it with a Borders-like venue.
Most people didn't go to Tower for a borers-like experience. They went there for a new-book library-like experience. While there were some issues with it, the only real issue during the borders invasion was pricing (in part due to the expansion above decimating their cash reserves) and later cutbacks in their magazine supplies, which were a major pull for customers. Tower literally stocked rare magazines from all over the world, and oftentimes if you couldn't find something, they could special order it if you know what you were looking for. Sometimes even a single issue of a rare magazine someone normally special ordered, just in case it piqued someone else's interest.
I had a friend who was into J-Rock/Pop around '99 who got all her magazines from there.
Nowadays in their former hometown the only options are Dimple Records/Book stores, Barnes & Noble, and a few independent used bookstores that pop up and disappear every couple of years.
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:32PM (1 child)
There's still one bookstore in town. It's run out of an old warehouse. You'd think I'd have been in there, but...
There's a huge sign outside. Two stories tall. "WE SHIP TO PRISONS FOR FREE"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @05:04PM
Anti-shoplifting sign?
I mean book welding shoplifters are the biggest danger to America, because THEY STEAL KNOWLEDGE! JUST LIKE THE CHINESE!
IN FACT THEY MUST ALL BE CHINESE SPIES!!! (Or is that 'classical American Patriots'... it is hard to tell the difference anymore.)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jdavidb on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:05PM
My grandparents, sometimes just my grandmother, used to take me to the malls (two in our area) about twice a week in summer. My grandmother would usually buy me a book every time.
After I learned to drive, the first time I went somewhere without telling my dad was a trip to the mall to go to Waldenbooks. That's about the extent of the trouble I caused in high school.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 3, Interesting) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:50PM (7 children)
More like Circuit City. Fire the experienced folks who have all the institutional knowledge, leaving the drones to drive away the remaining customers.
Will upper management be fired because this really is B&N's to lose - there are many surviving (appearing to be thriving) indie bookstores showing how you push back against Amazon. Nope. The upper management will get out with their golden parachutes intact, mostly.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:25PM (6 children)
The indie bookstores aren't that easily comparable to B&N: a giant corporation just isn't going to give you the same experience you get with a little bookstore owned and operated by some old guy. Also, there's other differences: those indie bookstores are usually located in out-of-the-way locations where rent is cheap, and their stores are usually small. Some of them mix used and new books together. That stuff just isn't compatible with the B&N business model.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:33PM (3 children)
Good points, all, Grishnakh. My experience of those indie stores, though, is that they are also all about selling the customer an experience. B&N can't afford to compete with Amazon on price by everything I've read. If they want to survive, they have to keep their niche of people flowing in through the doors. Firing senior frontline staff just isn't the way to make that happen.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:54PM (2 children)
Oh, I agree. And that's absolutely correct about "selling an experience". But I just don't think it's possible for a large corporation to copy the indies and sell an experience like that. You're just not going to get people passionate about books to come work for peanuts at some mega-chain; the indies can do it because the guy/girl who loves books also owns the place and runs it the way they see fit, rather than according to some corporate mandate. There's really no way to reconcile this.
If B&N wants to survive, they'll have to reinvent themselves somehow, to offer something that Amazon just can't. Perhaps they should expand their cafes and become places where people with laptops can hang out all day long, perhaps they should downsize a lot so they're only the size that Waldenbooks stores used to be instead of taking up almost as much space as Dick's, perhaps they should try to buy up that other e-reader company, perhaps they should get into comic books, I don't know.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday February 14 2018, @10:17PM
Yes, I think you're right that if B&N tries to just copy the indie-feel they'd almost certainly fall flat. I have known B&N folks who are true bibliophiles - though you're right that there are plenty who are not, as well. The sad part is that they have been trying... I don't agree with the choices they've been making (maybe that's because between a Toys R Us and a really good games store in town, so much of that aspect is just poor copies of what I already have access to). They're pulling back from that a little, but it almost feels like Radio Shack did in going from a hobbyist store into a computer franchise to a not-quite electronics retailer to a cellphone store where it died. They probably don't have a lot of time left to find that voice - though that's just my feely-guess and not based on data.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Thursday February 15 2018, @03:17PM
Funny, that indy feeling is the impression I got in Waterstones in Piccadilly circus. That's 6 floors, but (the way I remember it now) with here and there small cards saying "Why I love this book, by ... reason ...".
Dunno if that was completely faked or just company-wide suggestions distributed to all chains (Waterstones is not really small), or actual suggestions of the staff that works at that location. But it did come across as if the people who work there, care about books.
(Similarly good for the impression is the fact that they have lazy/comfy chairs for reading all over the place on each floor. It really gives you the feeling that you're welcome to sit down and read a book - as opposed to the cries of "this is not a library!" you'd encounter all to frequently elsewhere.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @10:42PM (1 child)
There. FTFY.
And no, I won't tell you the name of the store or where it is.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @02:45AM
Dear Penthouse,
I never thought it would happen to me...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @05:49PM (2 children)
Which holiday are they talking about? Lincoln's birthday. That's lousy of them to fire bread winners on Lincoln's birthday.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday February 14 2018, @05:53PM (1 child)
They probably meant the Christmas season, or "nine-week holiday period ending December 30, 2017", as in the previous story. That's the most important time of the year for them.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:34PM
They don’t use the word "Christmas" because it’s not politically correct. We’re saying "Merry Christmas" again. Merry Christmas. So, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:20PM (10 children)
Firing lead cashiers in a digital age is hardly an indication of longer lines or less sales.
Top of the food chain lead cashiers can be replaced by automated checkout. Everything in B&N has a bar code already. Scan and go.
Go to any grocery story or even Home Depot. One checkout guy managing 6 or 10 self checkout stations.
B&N's problem is too much infrastructure in high rent districts. But they HAVE TO be there, because they are not a "destination store" any more, so they need to be in malls to get the casual impulse sales. Why drive to B&N whey you can get that book sitting on your couch?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:57PM (1 child)
No, they can't. Barnes & Noble is selling an Experience, not "books." Same exact reason that B&N must be in higher scale locations than the mall. You need to feel like this isn't going to Whatever's to find earrings or Gamestop. They're killing off the ONE advantage they had left over Amazon - the friendly live helpful person giving a welcoming and knowledgeable experience promptly yet you can spend hours browsing and sitting - in the name of quarterly bonuses. RIP B&N.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday February 14 2018, @11:52PM
Hate those people.
Surfing the shelves, getting immersed in the book or two, and suddenly you have to shift into the other half of your brain to make pleasant talk with some busybody. I know how to find help if I need it, and would go to a public library if I needed help, rather than to a 20 something who was selling cell phones last week, and ear rings the week before.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:05PM (7 children)
> Why drive to B&N whey you can get that book sitting on your couch?
It's full of filthy humans! Yuck!
I'm going to sell my car and never drive anywhere, because why would I do that when I can get food and entertainment delivered to my house ?
Time to get rid of "cities", "downtowns", and any other unhealthy concentration of humans like "work", "theaters" and "playground". It's cheaper, more convenient, and safer to stay naked inside your home at all times!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:22PM (6 children)
Your mocking and irony filled statement is absolutely correct; some people like the interpersonal interactions and experience of going to a place with other humans.
However, your cherry-picked quote misses the entire point of the GP. The GP was noting that people don't make a special trip to B&N, so they need to have casual impulse sales (and thus need to be in expensive locations). I think I mainly agree with that. If people can wait, they'll order online where it is cheaper and more convenient.
Speaking for myself, I and some other people I know were vaguely interested in that "Fire and Fury" book, and we did a quick search for it when we happened to be passing by a B&N. They didn't happen to have ti in stock, but if the B&N store hadn't been there where we were anyway, we wouldn't have even tried to get it.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday February 15 2018, @06:36AM (5 children)
Actually, I disagree. What they need to do is have lots of really small local stores that have LOTS of single copies of books, and if you buy it they'll ship you a copy to your home for free (i.e., shipping cost included in price). The only way to sell me books I'm not already looking for is to let me see it, but I'm usually quite willing to wait a day or two to actually get it. (I suppose they could let you buy the shelf copy for a premium price. Somehow the instantly printed books never took off, maybe they used shoddy paper or binding.)
If I'm going down to the local coffee shop I'm quite likely to stop by the convenience market or hardware store to pick up something. If I'm making a special trip somewhere I'm much less likely to buy something besides what I was after.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:19AM
There is a place like that. They actually let you read those books too, for free. It's called a library.
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:49AM (3 children)
I work in digital printing.
If it's done well, then a digital print book (your 'instant printing') can rival a traditional offset book in terms of quality. The trouble is, even with digital, there is a set-up cost, and the run cost is way higher. If you've invested huge amounts in automation, then that set-up cost might be 30 seconds of an operator clicking "print this book" - (call it 20 cents), and 1 minutes of someone else collecting it and delivering it to the counter 5 minutes later (30 cents (grunt workers are paid less)).
On top of that, digital print, in black and white on cheap paper, runs from 0.3 to 0.8 cents per page. Colour runs up to 50 cents per page.
Then you have to amortise the cost of that automation across the on-demand books you sell. You just can't compete with offset.
The traditional offset printing business is ruthless, mature and commodity. The prices are way lower than people think - the actual cost to print, bind, and ship an offset (traditional printing) paperback book is between 20 cents and 2 dollars per copy depending on size and print run. $2 would be a huge book (>1000 pages) or really short run (< 1000 copies)
All those people complaining about e-books being as expensive as paper versions, the rest goes to the author/publisher/distributor/bookstore. Given the cost of editing and setting up PDF/epub/mobi/html/txt versions and relative sale volumes, the price is pretty much a wash.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday February 15 2018, @06:27PM (2 children)
OK, that's *why* instant printing never took off. And it's a good reason. But shipping from a warehouse should often get the stuff delivered in a day or two (which was what I was proposing). It means you'd need several large warehouses, but that's a lot cheaper than a large store in every city.
The problem is the fancy book stores focus on instant delivery, which means they need a large supply on hand. That increases sales, but also expenses. Having a copy or two of the most popular books, and being willing to order ANYTHING would be a big plus. I'm not sure it works when combines well with a coffee shop...though that might work, if you model the contents of the store on a library. (There's a bookstore in Salem, Oregon that does that, though they basically sell used books, but they advertise that they'll order the book you want.) My most local bookstore is just a bookstore, but it will order any book I ask for. The problem with their model is that if they ship it to my house it adds about $10 to the cost...well, and they don't carry anything I'm interested in. Both of those stores have the problem of not having any parking, and in both places it's a real problem (though not for me, as I don't drive).
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday February 16 2018, @07:11AM (1 child)
Other than the ideological reasons of not making Bezos richer and hating their work practices, I don't really see much difference to Amazon. They got there there first with the most, and now have an established dominance with huge economies of scale.
If you are going to order it from a warehouse, you may as well do that while sitting on your couch in your undies. No need to make a special trip to what is effectively a kiosk to order a book.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday February 16 2018, @06:06PM
The difference is that you could see and touch the book before buying it.
Sorry, but to me that's important. 2/3 of the reason I patronize my local bookstore rather than Amazon is that I can see and touch the books first. And this despite the fact that they don't carry much that I want. Whether or not it makes Bezos richer doesn't enter into my calculations. When I lived nearer to bookstores that had more of what I wanted I bought a lot more books. Often 2 or 3 per week. These days I buy less than 2 per average month. And it's because I can't see and feel and look at a couple of pages of the things I might want.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:27PM (15 children)
> 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.
Is that common practice in USA? In EU we have to get notice period.
(Score: 5, Informative) by insanumingenium on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:30PM
Yeah, pretty common here. Many states have laws specifically saying they can terminate employment at any time totally without reason. I wonder why we spend so much on welfare and "unemployment insurance"?
(Score: 2, Informative) by tftp on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:44PM (4 children)
(Score: 3, Touché) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:04PM (3 children)
I was always wondering how and why people in EU can do it without such security guards. I'm sure it's not the difference between the people, anybody fired will not like it and most likely be angry. Once I almost had the problem I cannot print my CV for the next job because my account was deactivated. I asked a colleague and he printed it for me.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:27PM (1 child)
Once I almost had the problem I cannot print my CV for the next job because my account was deactivated. I asked a colleague and he printed it for me.
You don't have your own printer? You can get one for less than $50 these days. You can even get a laser printer for $50 now. Or you can go to a place like an office-supply store and pay to print it there.
(Score: 4, Informative) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:34PM
It wasn't these days.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday February 14 2018, @09:40PM
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.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:00PM (5 children)
It is not uncommon when one is let go that the termination is effective immediately, but a reputation-conscious business will pay the departing employee a sum of termination pay over and above what is owed for hours of working. How much depends on your position and the business' desire to have ex-employee good will. Minimum 2 weeks, maximum 3 months is usual for places that do this at all. Many do not.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:11PM (3 children)
Best I've seen here they arrange it as mutual agreement. You don't get fired, you get the said money (usually notice period +1 month salary) and you quit effective tomorrow. Spares much of the angry feelings as well. Downside is you cannot go ask for unemployment compensation (depends on the country actually) but usually that would be less than what you get now, and you have the (paid) free time to go job searching immediately.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:30PM (2 children)
Yep, my whole team at one company was laid off in one fell swoop (except for one guy who was kept a little while to clean things up), and while we were sent away pretty quickly and not allowed to log in, we were given IIRC 3 months' severance pay, so it was a good amount of time to go look for a new job without any financial hardship. That company was pretty poorly run (as far as decision-making; they were stupid to throw away this team and leave the market for the product we were working on), but they handled lay-offs nicely all things considered.
(Score: 2) by Sourcery42 on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:29PM (1 child)
I've seen this work out really good for someone once. We were working at a place that was shutting down. Everyone knew the headcount reduction was imminent, and almost everyone was looking for another job. First thing in the morning one coworker is telling me about how he's accepted another job. He's about to put in his two weeks notice, resignation letter in his pocket. Before we even finish the conversation everyone gets rounded up into the big conference room, and about half of us found out it was our last day. Everyone who was let go got 6 months severance pay. His eyes lit up when he heard that (they were cheap bastards - it was pretty surprising). He caught me after the meeting and swore me to secrecy about his new job to not jeopardize getting that severance package. Bad deal for most everyone, but it played right into his hands.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:56PM
Yep, it was a little like that with my job too: we all knew the axe was going to fall, we just didn't know when. I wasn't as proactive as your coworker, but when I got my severance, I found a new (and higher-paying, but longer commute) job within a month.
(Score: 3, Informative) by tonyPick on Thursday February 15 2018, @08:29AM
IME it isn't uncommon in the UK tech/finance/etc for people to be technically employed, but told not to show up during the notice period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_leave [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by nobu_the_bard on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:18PM
It is very common. I've seen people try to be "nice" about firings and give prior notice, or even allow people to clean out their own desk, but it's been 50/50 if the departing employee causes trouble (stealing client data, defacing property, rolling back databases, deleting backups, etc).
In one particular case, the departing employee was crying and carrying on, so the employer felt bad about it and let him clean out his desk "with dignity" and telling nobody, including IT. The employee walked out with the backup drives (he had a passcode) after deleting the client database (admin credentials), then vanished. IT didn't learn about it until the following day when overnight backups failed. Nobody has heard from the guy since or knows where he is (missing person)... I suspect he just hit the road headed out west after dumping the drives somewhere...
It's easier to just not give them the opportunity rather than try to deal with them after the fact. It's hard to know who will do what beforehand.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday February 15 2018, @12:26AM (1 child)
In Ontario, Canada, you can be fired immediately, but you have to give severance pay, worth X number of weeks (years?) worked up to a certain amount....if they wanted to get rid of me, it would cost A LOT (but my boss loves me!).
Canada...a more sane country, lol.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:23AM
You only need 2 week notice. For anything more, you need to have something in your contract. You should read your contract and keep it close ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:37PM (8 children)
"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."
obviously that isn't an issue. :)
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:42PM (7 children)
You have to have people buying your product to be concerned about restocking. Barnes and Noble, at least the last time I went, was very overpriced when compared with Amazon or Borders (when it existed). Barnes and Noble came in and killed all the small bookstores because they were able to give cheaper prices and better selection, now they are being killed in turn by Amazon who can offer an even greater selection and cheaper prices.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2, Insightful) by tftp on Wednesday February 14 2018, @06:53PM (5 children)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:16PM (4 children)
Then this becomes a reality [gnu.org]
(Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:33PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @05:16PM
Like China, Russia, the UK, and the US Governments? :)
(Score: 3, Informative) by pendorbound on Wednesday February 14 2018, @07:52PM (1 child)
Kindle DRM is still trivially breakable. As long as that's true, I'm not especially worried.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Arik on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:27PM
You should be.
Of course it's breakable. That's not the point, and shouldn't give you any comfort.
The game doesn't rely on unbreakable DRM. We both know that's not possible.
What it relies on is the law - the men with guns - to enforce their privilege over your rights. And that's already on the books and being done.
Can you get away with it in your own home still? No doubt. But go try and offer your services to other people who are less technical than you, but no less entitled to the books they have bought. See how long you get away with that.
We're rapidly approaching the point where understanding how anything works is effectively illegal.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday February 15 2018, @06:43AM
The last time I went into a Barnes&Nobel, it's prices were about like everyone else, but the selection in any category I was interested in was so poor I never bothered to go back.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Megahard on Wednesday February 14 2018, @08:16PM
That's one way to get the lead out.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday February 14 2018, @11:31PM
Honoring the brave decision of losing strategic workforce without warning, and to underline the new long term goals, the firm's new name will be: "Burns and No Bell".
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Thursday February 15 2018, @12:28AM (1 child)
How many execs lost THEIR jobs?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by BK on Thursday February 15 2018, @03:41AM
Fair as that sounds, we all know the answer. And in truth, it doesn't even make sense. Someone still has to be CEO, CFO, etc. In theory, the exec who failed to deliver on his goals should see his job at risk, or at least all of his 'bonus', but it's never structured that way.
A more realistic idea would be to make it proportional in some way. A broad 10% workforce reduction should be 10% less base pay for C suite and 10% less potential bonus, etc. Still would never fly.
...but you HAVE heard of me.
(Score: 1) by sonamchauhan on Friday February 16 2018, @12:39PM
Physical bookstores are not innovating enough to compete with Amazon and subsidiaries (Audible, The Book Depository, etc). I worry sometimes - I like wandering in secondhand bookshops, and don't like how few there are left. I speak to people working in bookstores and there's really nothing planned, except for spinning up a website.
That won't work.
Amazon started with books because books are the ultimate fungible commodity. Each has an ISBN (instantly identifiable), each is equivalent to the other (unlike, say, fruit), there's little scope for fakes or adulteration (unlike jewellery), and the price points are right for moving significant volumes at low-risk. Selling on the web also adds value: a book is freeze-dried information anyway, so it's a natural fit for meta-information like reviews and recommendations. Putting a massive catalog online does not cost much in inventory, but it taps into a long, fat tail of all sorts of interests -- from game developers, to philosophers, to philosophical game developers -- all willing to wait a few days after purchase (or a few seconds, if using Kindle).
Physical bookstores must compete in cyberspace. However, cloning Amazon's infrastructure is the wrong approach. Instead, they must blend physical and virtual presence, so customers still find value in a physical store.
One way to do this is by turning stores into a federated hybrid marketplace.
Imagine this:
I walk into a book store. There's a book and a DVD box set tucked under my arm -- I bought these weeks or months ago and want to get rid of them. I walk up to an automated kiosk (in a low-tech scenario, I go to the cashier). It's something that resembles a reverse vending machine. and I scan my items. This machine has me quickly flip pages in my book to check its condition. It also has me insert the DVDs into a reader slot. Then it robot-wraps the products (shrink wrap, or cardboard mailer) and slots them into inventory. I walk away with a few dollars instantly available in my account. I'll be credited more 'on consignment', when the items sell.
I turn into the main store and walk the aisles. A book interests me in the Business section. I start browsing. I whip out my mobile and an app recognises the book, providing recommendations and reviews. A 'What's Related' gallery pops up related books. These are from the bookseller's extended catalog and the catalog of other booksellers this bookseller federates with. Now a different book has caught my fancy. This seems to cover the topic better. It has better, more passionate reviews. And there's a really good deal on a second-hand copy somebody deposited five minutes ago on the other side of the continent. Satisfied, I place the order. There's a bit of automated-haggling as my app negotiates the price range set by the seller, and with stores on both side of the continent. A couple of seconds, and the transaction closes successfully. My preferences request delivery to this store. I come here on weekends anyway; I'll pick it up when I'm in next, sit down on the sofa and have a read.
The cashier gives me a friendly wave. He saw the transaction go through -- I've known him a few years and my browse/buy settings are open to him. He'll probably be handing me the parcel next week (if I'm in during business hours; otherwise, it'll be the vending dispenser). We chat a bit -- turns out he's interested in the same topic. As I chat, I notice a pencil loop [amazon.com]. That'd be great for the notebook I always carry around. I purchase it and affix it to my notebook.
It's been a good day. I quite enjoyed that.