And look how that worked out for them?
Sears is ~112 years old; that's quite the run. Moreover, they have brands that continue to be produced and sold in other stores.
Let's talk in 2106.
When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
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Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#12The sears salesmen directly drove revenue. He was being incentivized to increase revenue. The warehouse worker is not directly driving revenue at Amazon. The developers do...and they are being incentived to keep doing so. The world changed, business stayed the same.
Exactly this. It's staggering how intellectually dishonest this piece is. I don't understand what is happening at the NYT, but this and other pieces like it lately are representative of just awful journalistic standards.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#13I think tech workers at Amazon are closer to the Sears workers than fulfillment center folks are.
My friends working at Amazon as tech workers are making money hand over fist right now. 100+ stocks each grant.
On the flipside, Amazon has a "projected total comp" which they keep you at, and if you're over projected, they don't give you more which is fucked. Google gives you 80k in stock and doesn't tie your future say to it.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#14Sears' huge pension liabilities was cited as one of the main reasons that prevented any possible re-structuring that could have saved the company when it was declining and heading to bankruptcy...
I mean, let's be realistic here. For how long was Sears in this pitiful state?... Getting all that real estate + semi-established brand was a private equity's wet dream, yet nobody ever contemplated that option.
And now that Sears is bankrupt, their pension fund is going into default and passed to the government who will need to fulfill those obligations (thankfully the pension benefit guaranty is not funded with tax revenues).
Of course, I'm not blaming Sears retirees. They deserve their pensions as much as any other person. But the reality is that corporate America learned this lesson a while ago and Sears is just one of many examples.
Is not about pleasing shareholders and fucking up employees as this article claims. It's a problem of business viability and long-term expectations.
Wanna increase salaries and stock grants? Sure, do it. Two quarters later Wall Street will fuck you up because your new shiny compensation model just shaved the company revenue. And guess what, they will punish you at much larger magnitude than your declining revenue. So that 5% of lost revenue is going to cost you 20% or 30% of market value, and now all those stock grants are 30% less valuable. So your great initiative just put you in a negative spiral. And now your employees will be pissed, and the press will come and write an article claiming that your once frugal company is now a money firepit and that morale is low, completely forgetting their initial narrative on how you used to fuck over your employees.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#15And look how that worked out for them?
During their best years, when Sears was a genre-defining behemoth, workers owned 25% of the company, and a warehouse worker could get the same kind of retirement package a salesman could if they had the seniority.
They build an empire that lasted over a century, and flourished.
Sears' downturn didn't come until two decades after they phased out worker-friendly policies like profit sharing, and their decline was based on poor strategic decisions, not the profit-sharing that had existed decades earlier.
In other words, being excellent to their employees worked out great for Sears.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#16Sears' huge pension liabilities was cited as one of the main reasons that prevented any possible re-structuring that could have saved the company when it was declining and heading to bankruptcy... I mean, let's be realistic here. For how long was Sears in this pitiful state?... Getting all that real estate + semi-established brand was a private equity's wet dream, yet nobody ever contemplated that option. And now tha…
Yup, if you're interested in a recent example look at Mellanox vs Starboard capital. We need to break out of the vice-grip Wall Street has on public companies. The Long Term Stock Exchange is one such initiative but I think co-operatives are another way that should be popularized further. Problem is, it becomes really hard to capitalize without Wall Street money.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#17Yeah I remember Bernie Sanders praised Amazon's decision in a tweet, but only later did people and the media realize that increasing the minimum wage came at a cost to other things, such as stock compensation. no free lunch guys.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#18Sears' huge pension liabilities was cited as one of the main reasons that prevented any possible re-structuring that could have saved the company when it was declining and heading to bankruptcy... I mean, let's be realistic here. For how long was Sears in this pitiful state?... Getting all that real estate + semi-established brand was a private equity's wet dream, yet nobody ever contemplated that option. And now tha…
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Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#19Yeah I remember Bernie Sanders praised Amazon's decision in a tweet, but only later did people and the media realize that increasing the minimum wage came at a cost to other things, such as stock compensation. no free lunch guys.
Amazon realized that they kept getting a black eye because of their wages so of course they pivoted. Now some workers are probably worse off. I blame the media for only caring about sensationalist headlines.
Re: When Sears Flourished, So Did Workers. At Amazon, It’s More Complicated
#20Sears' huge pension liabilities was cited as one of the main reasons that prevented any possible re-structuring that could have saved the company when it was declining and heading to bankruptcy... I mean, let's be realistic here. For how long was Sears in this pitiful state?... Getting all that real estate + semi-established brand was a private equity's wet dream, yet nobody ever contemplated that option. And now tha…
Yup, if you're interested in a recent example look at Mellanox vs Starboard capital. We need to break out of the vice-grip Wall Street has on public companies. The Long Term Stock Exchange is one such initiative but I think co-operatives are another way that should be popularized further. Problem is, it becomes really hard to capitalize without Wall Street money.
Wall Street money is just the money of 1%. The 1% need to get on board.