Archived Merry Christmas, Mr. Cornell

[Rock Lobster]

It if means I can see a doctor without going bankrupt, sure. I’m one illness from total bankruptcy without insurance and I doubt I’m the only one. Had to see a doctor for something extremely minor recently, total bill out the door was $350. I can’t imagine what it would be like for something major or if I was living paycheck to paycheck.
If basically all of Europe and Canada can figure it out, I’m sure we can.

The US is the only industrialized nation to not have this figured out, the second to last was South Africa about 10 years ago. The problem is that the US is a cash cow, and the people who have reaped those benefits are now the ones in power and don’t want to let this change!

I feel bad for Trump supporters. I am extremely lucky to be well off, and while it was some of my hard work that got me to my position, it was mostly laying low through my college days and recognizing the Target pattern for promotions and sneaking my way into it. Many kids can’t find jobs after graduating, and their pay seems to be getting worse! Many 4 year degrees are getting jobs in their field but they seem to be getting closer to teacher salaries. Our TLs are about to make more in a year!

The problem I have with all of this is that many people have been convinced this is acceptable. It’s ok to work 60-70 hours a week and not have health insurance. It’s acceptable for big businesses to treat its employees poorly. I am not doom and gloom, but let’s call a spade a spade here. Healthcare can change but doesn’t for a reason. Gun Laws don’t change for a reason. Minimum Wage and Employee rights don’t change for a reason. This reason is us, or more accurately, those of us that are easily fooled to believe things that are against our self interest.

That company does not have your health, safety, wages, protection, rights, or quality of life in its list of priorities. They don’t want you to have access to assault rifles because they want to protect your rights, they want your money. They want you to pay too much for healthcare and scare you away from socialized medicine. And the worst part is that so many believe them. We are uninformed and closed off from the world, unaware of how stupid this whole thing is. It’s sad to watch the low and middle classes get pushed around, and they do it wearing the hats and shirts of the very people that are putting them into their problems.

This is obviously a rant, but to sum up one more point here... the Trump strategy is actually very similar to Cornell. They are swooping into their roles and spending money like crazy, then bragging to the public about how much better it is now because so many of us do not understand the metrics. Trump is raising the debt to astronomical levels, and then brags about GDP growth (essentially spending money to make money) and then Cornell is doing the same, pushing sales comps up artificially through remodels, new brands, and a natural benefit from the economy. I’m worked up again!

 

[Rolling CAFS]

Does anyone know if a tm got the 500.00?

My bulk guy got the $500

 

[Times Up]

That company does not have your health, safety, wages, protection, rights, or quality of life in its list of priorities.

Spot on!

 

[LUR99]

I have no idea who got the $500 gift card at my store. I hope it went to a struggling single mom. I would have preferred if they had given out 10 $50 cards instead of one $500 card. I have a feeling they are keeping it secret who got it at my store.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

Well you guys are getting bumped up to $15 an hour next year though.

I hope none of you are buying this bullshit. Does anyone really believe that you are going to get $15 an hour and the store will be staffed the same way? The mantra is your getting this bump and you are going to have to work harder for it. That translates simply into even less payroll to pay for the increased wage. There is no way that spot is going to cough up more money for the team AND staff at the same level. Once modernization is completely rolled out the TL count will decrease. Target has always had way too many "managers". Target announced the pay increase for publicity only. Does any one really believe that Meijer and Walmart won't follow suit? If you choose to cling to hope that this company will suddenly care about the people who break their backs for them I feel for you. This company has become greedy and are trying desperately to portray itself as a great place to work. If you think 4th quarter was tough, just wait until Feb and March. Keep your options open and your resumes up to date. You are all worth more than how bullseye is treating you.

 

[garbage]

I hope none of you are buying this bullshit. Does anyone really believe that you are going to get $15 an hour and the store will be staffed the same way? The mantra is your getting this bump and you are going to have to work harder for it. That translates simply into even less payroll to pay for the increased wage. There is no way that spot is going to cough up more money for the team AND staff at the same level. Once modernization is completely rolled out the TL count will decrease. Target has always had way too many "managers". Target announced the pay increase for publicity only. Does any one really believe that Meijer and Walmart won't follow suit? If you choose to cling to hope that this company will suddenly care about the people who break their backs for them I feel for you. This company has become greedy and are trying desperately to portray itself as a great place to work. If you think 4th quarter was tough, just wait until Feb and March. Keep your options open and your resumes up to date. You are all worth more than how bullseye is treating you.

But Target, like other retailers, will always have the bare minimum amount of staff needed to run its stores. They had the bare minimum back when the wage was 7.25 an hour. They still do currently and they will at $15 an hour. Having extra payroll the company doesn’t need is wasted profit. Doesn’t matter if it’s at $7.25 or $20 an hour. Waste is waste.
This whole belief that it will hurt jobs is complete baloney. If pay raises to the point where you cannot operate a business, then yea it will begin to affect employment. But at $15 an hour, it’s not gonna be changing much, if anything other than the quality of work (people will work harder to keep their job at Target) and the quality of life of the TMs. All Target will have to do start charging $1 more for toilet paper or something else. The company isn’t going to go bankrupt. This is just capitalism at play. Businesses compete for workers. If Target wants to stay competitive and one way to do it is to pay more, then it makes sense.
And I’m sure the $15 was for publicity. I don’t doubt that for a moment, but sometimes someone can do the right thing for the wrong reasons.

They want you to pay too much for healthcare and scare you away from socialized medicine. And the worst part is that so many believe them.

Exactly. There’s no reason why friggin Costa Rica should have a better life expectancy than the United States, but yet they do. I’m sure you all can guess the reason why. Well some of you. Others would much rather pay $300 for simply seeing a physicians assistant without any treatment rather than pay a little more in taxes so you and your neighbor can get healthcare.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

The goals related to the $15 an hour are simply unrealistic. They (spot) wants the team to work harder for the holy grail of $15 per hour. Bottom line is you can either have fast or you can have accurate, but at the amount of people (payroll) they are willing to have, you cannot have both. Of course they want productivity to make a maximum profit. And that makes sense. But they have tried to implement too many new things too fast. They haven't invested in the process for training or the simple logistics for the processes.. Their workforce is expendable and they use that business model. Use them up. wear them out and replace them. Target is now Walmart in red and khaki.