Lowe's lays off thousands of store employees amid pressure to boost profits

[TexasTowelie]

Lowe's is laying off store workers who handle certain maintenance and product assembly tasks as the home-improvement chain continues to cut costs in a bid to boost profits.

The chain confirmed that it is "moving to third-party assemblers and facility services to allow Lowe’s store associates to spend more time on the sales floor serving customers."

The Wall Street Journal reported that the number of layoffs is in the "thousands" and described the affected workers as including workers who "put together grills, wheelbarrows and other products."

Those positions are being outsourced to a third-party company.

"Associates who were in these positions will be given transition pay and have the opportunity to apply for open roles at Lowe’s," the company said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2019/08/02/lowes-store-layoffs/1901653001/

[Maxheader]

1. I'm sure those that don't get

fired will enjoy working next to these guys...

[TheBlackAdder]

34. Man, it already sucks shopping there. It takes 5 isles and 10 minutes to find someone to help you!

.

I did about 45 minutes of shopping at a new store by me last year.

I had about 20 items, large and small and when I pulled the cart up to the register, they said I must use the self-checkout line. I hate those things because, like at Wal*Mart, the onus is on you to get things right, and they can call the cops on you if you priced an item wrong. But, more importantly, it eliminates jobs!

I was tired, after working the day, and I did not want to go through the hassle of scanning the items. I asked for a checkout person and they told me no. I then said, OK, and walked out of the store, doing a cargo drop in the isle. The assistant manager, watching over the area came up to me at the exit and asked if I was buying those products. I said, "No! I will never shop at this store or any other store that forces self-checkout" and then I left. To date, they always have at least one checkout lane staffed.

.

[Blue_true]

39. One thing that I believe would really help their profits is

having retail layout specialists rework their stores. Every Lowes that I have gone into has massive disorder, items that logically should be beside eachother aren't. When I am in a Lowes that I don't normally buy in, I know that I will need more time to "accidentally" come upon what I was looking for, the product layout is that bad.

[onethatcares]

2. Ellison should be

assembling furniture and bbq grills. That would help the profit line out immensely.

The race to the bottom continues unabated.

[TheBlackAdder]

35. I shop at my Ace Hardware Store, because they assign an assistant to advise and select my merch.

.

Home Depot and Lowes just carry common products, if you have a newer house that resembles all others.

My home is from the early 60s, so it's a little quirky compared to more modern homes and the big box stores often cannot compete with my needs. Large stores also carry shitty plumbing supplies that are destined to fail in a few years, such as thin-walled J pipes that you can squeeze. Plumbling supply stores and local hardware stores carry the real merchandise.

Also, my Ace sells grills at the same price as Home Depot, and they deliver and assemble them at your home at no charge and guarantee satisfaction.

.

[Blue_true]

40. Ace is pricier. But help is easy to find and they know where stuff is at in their store. nt

[Botany]

3. Make it harder to find help @ the store is a sure way to increase profits

[zaj]

27. Actually, they are putting more people out in the floor...

... in order to generate more sales. It that's how I read it.

[In_The_Wind]

5. Just what a smaller Lowe's (like my local store) needs.

[retread]

6. How does a CEO(Ellison) fail miserably at his previous job(JC Penney), then get another position

where he can spread the misery to a whole new group of working folks?

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Did he source Penney's appliances from Lowes?

He just hops from one career to another. Next on the horizon - outsourcing CEO.

[pangaia]

12. thats what ceos do..

[marble falls]

7. Layoffs like these have been proven to boost profitability only for a short term.

[groundloop]

9. True, but corporate America doesn't look past the current quarter anyway

Corporate America is horribly short sighted, someone does a dim-witted move like this which will look good in the short term and they get a big fat raise. In a year or two when it becomes apparent it was a bad move they've already moved on.

[cwydro]

8. I recently used Lowes for a fence, quite an extensive (and expensive) fence.

I will never use Lowes again. The company that installed the fence was great, but the screw-ups preceding the installation on Lowes’ part were unreal.

Awful customer service. Just awful.

[ooky]

25. I've found no reason to use Lowes contracting services for anything.

I priced a tile job with them. They weren't competitive with 2 other tile stores in either price, selection, or scheduling the job. Also looked at them again when I put in new cabinets and counter tops. I did a lot better just using my own private contractors. It appears to me Lowes is just a third party trying to make more money off the sale of the material by brokering contracting services that raises the overall cost and complicates the entire process. Its actually a bad business model.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Serving customers

That means confronting them every 10 feet, "Can I help you find something?" "What can we help you find today?"

They have a way of making you feel guilty for visiting the store if you don't buy something.

Best Buy is among the most persistent. They circulate in a pack. One guy for 2 minutes, then the next one shows up, they agree with you, then they hand off to the third. They must have learned the technique from new car salesmen.

Yeah. I browse. I want a good price, I don't know what's available. My buying decisions are well-researched, I have to live with the junk for years or decades.

[CottonBear]

14. Lowe's employees are required to, at a minimum greet customers, and...

they can also ask if they need help finding anything.

A district or regional executive came through our area to visit stores recently. We got a warning phone call from a store where he’d just left: he’d just fired 5 employees on the spot for NOT greeting customers.

So, we are greeting you because we have to do so.



Edit: Greeting the customers gives them the chance to ask for help if they need it.
You can usually tell which customers don’t need assistance.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. "FAKE GREETINGS!!!" When will management figure out

that some customers find it irritating? I get greeted at Walmart, Lowes, the supermarkets. Why should they say "hi" to people they don't know? There are actually stores I avoid because of all the greetings, and specific employees I run the other way. I'm there to shop. I have a list, I want to browse. If I can't find something or need help, I have a tongue.

"FAKE GREETINGS!!!"

[CottonBear]

18. Well, I, personally, am very sincere. I like people & my job.

I usually just say “Hi” or “good morning” or “let me know if I can help you.” Of course, it’s not always actually possible to greet everyone. My department is very different from all of the other departments and customers frequently need help finding things.

[bucolic_frolic]

19. Greetings make me paranoid, and followers are like Trump stalking Hillary around the stage

Yes, I know security cameras are watching every step of every shopper, but entering my mental space which is pretty set on time, location, item, price, is not going to help me feel comfortable. In my view they are alienating customers for short term profitability gains.

And, the employees are not knowledgeable. I know more about their products than they do.

[CottonBear]

21. I am an expert in my area.

Both I, and my fellow employees in our department, are all experts in our area.

No one follows a customer around. I simply greet those who l encounter. My department is huge and ever changing with the seasons, so people frequently need assistance and have questions.

Edit: I’ve never worked in any sort of retail in my entire life before now. I’m a grownup with a family and another job. I took the seasonal job to pay for my child’ braces.

[bucolic_frolic]

22. I sure wouldn't want to work there or visit

I'd avoid it like the plague

[CottonBear]

23. You have total choice of where to shop or not.

I like my job and enjoy helping customers with their purchases.

I would say that there is certainly no reason to be paranoid about the employees when shopping at a large retailer.

[Hoyt]

30. Never had a problem with employees at Lowe's. Thanks for the help.

[GulfCoast66]

33. I rather like actually getting customer service.

Which involves, you know, talking to customers.

My biggest complaint at stores is finding someone to help. I can’t imagine complaining about having help available.

[CottonBear]

38. I dislike shopping where there's no help or human cashiers.

The employment cuts in big box retail seem to only be best for the top level corporate employees.

[dameatball]

28. The employees at my local Lowes are very helpful and not at all pushy. Most of the time I know

exactly what I want but not always. Not sure why anyone would mind someone saying hello to them, but everybody is different. Hate to see anyone losing their job in any event. Lowes has been outsourcing a lot of installation work for a while now.

[CottonBear]

32. The trend seems to be toward fewer full-time employees in all private businesses

and public institutions. Part time work, contract work, outsourced labor, and seasonal employees are more and more common.

[pangaia]

15. "Can I help you find something?" i don;t find that happening at the local lowes

the employees are actually terrific.


now VERIZON on the other hand.

a disgusting bunching of ignorant, lying, arrogant assholes you will not find anywhere

[MineralMan]

17. I hate that sort of service in stores like Lowe's.

I have either researched my purchase online and go straight for the product I want, or I'm working on a project and am designing it based on what is available.

In the first case, I don't need any assistance, since I already know what I'm buying, know it's in stock, and know the aisle it's in. These days, all of that information is available online for major retailers. In the second case, I don't know what I'm buying and am deciding that in the store, after seeing what is currently available. Either way, I don't need any "help" from someone who has no freaking idea about my project.

When I lived in California, my work was designing DIY projects for magazines like Popular Mechanics and Family Handyman. My local True Value hardware store was my research center as I was creating every project's design from scratch. One day, I went in there and there was a new employee, who decided that following me around asking if he could help was his job. After the third time he came up to me offering to help, I said, "Sure. I'm looking for parts for a xylophone project."

The store guy got a blank look on his face. I doubt if he even knew what a xylophone was. So, he said, "I don't think we have anything like that in the store." I told him I'd keep looking for what I needed.

About half an hour later, I came up to the cash register with a hand-basket full of odd stuff from the store. The "helpful" employee was working the register. I said, "Here are those xylophone parts I was looking for."

Another employee, who knew me and what I did, just about fell down laughing. Everyone there knew to leave me alone and that I'd find what I needed and buy it. I had just finished training the new employee to do the same.

[ooky]

29. Asking me if I need help doesn't normally bother me as long as they don't keep stalking me, but

I like them to be trained well enough to actually know what they are talking about if I take them up on their help offer. Too often I find they aren't trained, and that can become a frustrating exchange for both employee and customer. That goes for Lowes and a lot of places. Empty phrases that employees are "required" to say can lead to that frustration. At Harris-Teeter, the checkout person is required to say "did you find everything you are looking for?". For years I responded with the obligatory, equally empty "yes". But one day when I wasn't finding all the stuff I came for and feeling a little irritated I decided to answer "no". The checkout clerk just had a blank look on her face, then smiled and kept on ringing up the sale. Didn't ask what I couldn't find, said nothing. So, what's the point of asking if you aren't sincere or trained in what to do when a situation is actually presented by the customer? I think that is the situation stores who use standard phrases need to make sure they are covering, and failing at.

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. Yeah, the top exec's need a few more yachts and vacation homes. nt

[brooklynite]

20. "Jobs for America"

[Everyman Jackal]

24. Veterans and active duty peope have also been told to check before buying anything

because they don't get the military discount on some items since April. Shop around because many different companies still honor the military discount.

[CrispyQ]

26. And yet they are building a new store near me.

A nice little corner where ducks & birds hang out is being turned into another frickin' shopping plaza. Across the street is an older, dying shopping plaza. There are two other Lowe's less than 5 miles away. It wouldn't surprise me to discover that one of them is on the closed list.

[pecosbob]

31. AI is going to put us all out of work soon.

Get ready for it...

[Initech]

36. And another few extra zeroes on the CEO of Lowes' paycheck.

Argh I'm so fucking sick of Wall St.

[onethatcares]

37. seems like the JC Penny business model

is to take companies and run them into the ground.

They took a very good local drug store chain here in sunny Floriduh and used that same model. Bought out Eckerd Corporation, ran the organized crime method of profit and shuttered the company.

I was kinda familiar with that one, my wife had been with Eckerds for 17 years. She got squat except for a minor severance and unemployment compensation for 9 weeks.