San Bernardino, California-based Stater Bros. Markets, a regional supermarket chain, has announced a historic first layoff in 89 years.
The layoffs will impact 63 "courtesy" clerks in four Southern California stores.
According to Chief Executive Pete Van Helden...
Hi, my name is Pete Van Helden. I'm the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board for Stater Brothers Markets and I want to thank you for joining me today. I know you're on search for some information about a recent announcement and my goal is to provide transparency and to explain the why about the announcement that we made on Monday, February the 17th.
So that announcement was a layoff. It was the announcing of laying off 63 of our teammates across four stores. The role that we eliminated in those four stores was courtesy clerk and it's certainly impactful to those 63 employees but I know it's impactful to everybody when they hear the word layoff, especially because in this company we've never done this before.
We've never had a layoff. It's unique and it's different and so I'm hoping you'll spend a few minutes with me today, give me the opportunity to explain the why and provide some transparency into this decision and then how that decision might impact our future. So in a word, why did we do this in one word? Inflation.
Inflation not only affects the company but how it affects our customer and I don't think it's any secret that in the last four years we've seen significant inflation more than I've ever seen in my career. We're up about 30 percent.
Those 63 jobs that we laid off are a cost reduction, and the intention is to take the cost reduction from those 63 jobs and hold the line on pricing, accept those cost of goods increases and not raise our prices if we can. And it's not just those 63 jobs, but we've reduced jobs here at the corporate office over the years. We're looking at increasing solar, reducing our electricity costs.
These are tough decisions. They're decisions I have to make. My number one job in this company is to make sure that this company is here for a long time, providing good jobs, union jobs, and career paths for those that want them.
I'm going to continue to do that to the best of my ability. And I hope you can all support me in that. Thanks for all you do every day.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?