NO LOVE AT STAPLES (09/14/19)

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 — 200+ LAYOFFS REPORTED WITH COMPANY-WIDE IMPACT

It is being widely reported that the company has laid off 200+ employees, mostly at the Framingham, Massachusetts headquarters, including layoffs in IT, Human Resources, and other staff functions.

A company spokesperson noted, “Any efforts we undertake to streamline the organization are aimed at speeding our decision-making and enabling us to focus on our customers. We will continue to look at the best structure to compete in a rapidly evolving marketplace.”

JUNE 1, 2018 — STAPLES LAYS OFF ANOTHER 100 EMPLOYEES

It appears that Staples is consolidating its distribution operations and moving from Henderson, North Carolina to its enlarged distribution center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Approximately 100 employees have been laid off. 

After its acquisition on September 12, 2017, by New York-based Sycamore Partners for $6.9 billion, multinational office supplies retailer Staples, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, laid off 177 workers, said to be mostly IT employees.  

From the TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) paperwork submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, by a “Workforce Specialist” in Broomfield, Colorado, it is suggested that many of these jobs were outsourced to a foreign vendor.  

The Trade Act of 1974 (19 USC § 2271 et seq.), as amended, established Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to provide assistance to workers in firms hurt by foreign trade. Program benefits include long-term training while receiving income support. TAA provides both rapid and early assistance. Filing this petition is the first step in qualifying for TAA benefits and assistance. After the petition is filed, the U.S. Department of Labor will determine whether a significant number or proportion of the workers of the firm have become totally or partially separated or are threatened to become totally or partially separated, and whether imports or a shift in production or services to a foreign country contributed importantly to these actual or threatened separations and to a decline in sales or in production of articles or supply of services.  

The company refuses to comment, releasing only a terse statement. “We are strategically restructuring our organization in order to support the needs of our customers and align with our business priorities. As a matter of policy, we do not discuss staffing figures.” 

Many Staples employees are said to be fearing the one-year anniversary of the acquisition when existing agreements containing severance provisions may expire.  

The new Staples owner, Sycamore Partners, also owns other retailers such as Coldwater Creek, Hot Topic, Nine West, and Talbots. 

Ironically, on October 14, 2016, Staples posted an article on its website touting the benefits of outsourcing. “Business outsourcing can sometimes seem like a daunting strategy that adds more moving pieces to your business. However, when done correctly, it can add layers of expertise, release you from tedious chores and let you concentrate on running your business more effectively.”

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. Just because something bad 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. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT MEREDITH

It should come as no surprise that the Meredith Corporation, which purchased Time, Inc. earlier this year for $2.8 billion, has decided to cut costs and improve operational efficiencies by laying off approximately 600 employees in Tampa, Florida  and outsourcing its publication fulfillment and customer service operations to Meredith’s current fulfillment vendor, Hearst-owned CDS Global based in Iowa. The transition will occur gradually over the next year as monthly titles are transitioned first, followed by Time’s weekly titles, and with full facility closure slated for the end of 2018. 

The Tampa facility processes subscription renewals and direct mail for all Time titles, including Time, People, InStyle and Sports Illustrated. Excess capacity is sold to non-affiliated publications such as Rolling Stone, National Geographic, and Playboy. Prior to its acquisition by Meredith, the management of Time had considering selling the business to the highest bidder. 

According to Art Slusark. Meredith spokesperson, “After careful evaluation we made the difficult decision to move the acquired Time Inc. titles to CDS Global, Meredith's current fulfillment provider. Our company is better served not being in the fulfillment business, and we will see significant savings as a result of this change.”  “Obviously, it’s a volume move. By moving the business over there, we’re getting a better rate. It’s a win-win for Meredith and for Iowa and for CDS. We experience a cost savings, and CDS gets some more jobs, which benefits the state of Iowa.” 

President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Harty told investors in Meredith’s 2018-Quarter 2 earnings call, that “we are launching a thorough combined media asset review to determine where the most opportunity exists to grow revenues and improve profitability. We will focus on creating stronger and more profitable properties with the goal to be the number one or number two brand in this space, because just like our television business, top brands garner the lion’s share of the ad revenues. Additionally, we would explore divesting assets that are not core to our business and might perform better with a different owner. 

As [Chief Financial Officer] Joe [Ceryanec] mentioned, we’ve been pleasantly surprised with recent transaction prices in the media space, and inbound interest for certain properties has been strong. Finally, we are very focused on fully realizing the high end of the $400 million to $500 million range of annual cost savings within the first two full years of operation. Given our previous initiatives to acquire Time Inc., we are very familiar with the available synergy opportunities. We are laser-focused on this goal and we will bring to bear the cost discipline we’ve come to expect from Meredith.”

One wonders how many of these employees started getting their affairs in order and seeking employment prior to the move when the market would not be flooded with similarly skilled workers?  

Are you asking yourself, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT SONY DADC and TECHNICOLOR'S CD/DVD FACILITIES (01/14/22)

JANUARY 14, 2022 — 100 EMPLOYEES TO BE LAID OFF IN TERRE HAUTE FACILITY

The company has announced a consolidation of all disc replication operations into one site, eliminating the need for approximately 100 employees at the Terre Haute, Indiana production facility by mid-2022.

According to a company statement, “Due to a continuous move to digital in the home entertainment market, Sony DADC announced to consolidate all of its disc replication operations into one site and as such the disc manufacturing services based in the US Terre Haute site will cease by Mid 2022. The roles servicing this operation are set for redundancy. Every effort will be made to support the employees during this time.

Distribution, Manufacturing Assembly, Client Services, and Graphic studio services will remain in operation in the Terre Haute site.

Disc manufacturing will continue to take place at Sony DADC’s main Central European Manufacturing hub in Salzburg, Austria. The disc manufacturing capacity held in Terre Haute will be integrated into the facility in Austria.

This set-up allows Sony DADC to remain a strong and reliable partner as end-to-end service provider for the entertainment industry and beyond.”

JANUARY 22, 2018 — Original post…

Sony DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation) has announced that they will be outsourcing the music and video manufacturing currently performed at its Terre Haute, Indiana facility to California's Technicolor Home Entertainment facility. The outsourcing will result in approximately 380 workers being permanently terminated in a mass layoff.

The 33-year-old Terre Haute facility is the last of Sony’s North American manufacturing plants. Considering the $500 million Sony has invested in the facility, it is likely that the facility will continue, to service Redbox’s DVD rental operations and produce Ultra HD Blu-ray for 4K televisions until a future date when it is speculated that the machinery will be shipped overseas and the facility closed. 

Lisa Gephardt, Sony’s New York-based corporate spokesperson, has claimed that the decision to outsource operations was based primarily on the dynamics of the home entertainment market, specifically citing increased competition from streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. "It is really that the home entertainment market is facing a decline over the last several years with factors such as increasing use of streaming such as Netflix and Hulu and a decreased emphasis on packaged media by retailers. There has been a reduction of floor space with big-box retailers, as packaged media is not emphasized as it once was. We have stayed ahead of the curve with operational efficiencies, but the decline in the home video market has caused us to make the difficult decision to change the way we operate by outsourcing.”

[Coincidently, France-basedTechnicolor Home Entertainment announced that they will be closing their one-million-square-foot Olyphant Pennsylvania compact disc duplication and packaging plant and laying off the remaining workers in 2018. Approximately 160 workers are affected. Technicolor's spokesperson, Lane Coope, said in a published report, “In an ongoing assessment of market conditions and operational requirements to remain competitive in our key areas of business, Technicolor will be ceasing packaging and replication operations at its Olyphant facility.” <Source>]

This should come as no surprise as the company relied on an obsolescent physical distribution model that has been severely impacted by streaming services based of cheap cloud storage and fat pipes with an abundance of bandwidth which is becoming cheaper and cheaper.

It appears that conventional audio CDs and DVDs may be going the way of Beta, VHS, and diskettes. 

Are you asking yourself, Am I Next?