Following hard on the heels of the Enron and K-Mart fiascoes, Sears Roebuck and Company downsized over 3,600 employees last week.
The recent problems in the retail industry are having an impact on college students, who occupy a large segment of the work force, especially in retail. The blow was especially severe for some University of Memphis students who work at local stores.
“The company told us technically the Sears corporation is not downsizing at all, it is restructuring itself,” said a U of M student and Sears manager who wanted to remain anonymous. “Sears has experimented with the cutback for some time now and they figured that it would work.”
For those who do not lose their jobs, the pain of losing coworkers and friends makes the news even worse.
“It does affect me, even though I will not be out of a job,” said a 24-year-old Sears associate and U of M student who wanted to remain anonymous. “It’s just that these are our managers that we have worked with for a while, and all of a sudden they are not going to be here.”
“In a reality sense, Sears did not intend to affect or tarnish the trust in itself, but you can’t help but to feel a little different about the situation,” the manager said. Approximately, four managers per store are affected here in the Memphis area.
The natural feeling for associates and managers employed at Sears locations around the city is one of fear and doubt.
“This kind of thing affects your livelihood, you know?” said the manager. “Even though the decision has been in the pipeline for a while, it still gets you down mentally.”
The worst part, the employees said, is that they are left dangling, not knowing whether or not they will have a job when they show up for work
“It’s just, the thing, to not know who will be here tomorrow to stay and who will be here tomorrow to clean out their office,” said the manager. “It’s a mental thing.”
