Boston Market evicted entirely from CT now for non-payment of rent for any of its property. They stopped doing business in the state last month, but they also stopped paying rent several months back. Looking into it, in August they were served lawsuits for not paying employees, or suppliers.

Most damning, they did not pay Meridian Bank, who foreclosed on their loan and seeks the colleterial, which was most the restaurants.

They had business suspended in several states in the past due to lawsuits or just not paying taxes.

Looking like the execs are lining their pockets now ahead of bankruptcy hearings seeing how much debt they can build up before they are force to sell it.

Legit didn't know they were still a thing. Figured they were soley frozen food. Though I guess it's now true...

Nov 20, 2023 21:07:46 GMT c said:

In addition, the firm claimed that when working from home, his productivity was around 50 per cent which was below the 85 per cent target. As he was not achieving an increase in productivity, and so it would be advantageous to observe and support him in the office,”

If they use metrics like this to force people back I am totally fine.  In the US this is not what is being done.  It is all the gut feeling of execs and upper management.  Generally to try to save the value of their real estate holdings that decline rapidly if they sit even partially used.

My team had hard proof we were at least 20% more effective with 100% work from home but corporate forced everyone back in as soon as possible. Now that office is closed after everyone quit.

Heard this a lot in tech. They were up, forming tighter groups with flattened management, then were called back into the office and things slowed down again as useless meetings, constant interruptions and layers of management returned.

All studies I read show production measured objectively went up with WFH, while perception of production by management dropped. Think a lot of people who never worked in an office have no idea how this could be the case, while everyone who worked in an office knows exactly why, the constant time wasting shit that is part of office culture that is claimed to make people more effective or to build teams, but is utterly useless. At the aerospace plant I had to shit through about 12 hours of meetings a month on the large goals of the company. My job was to count screws and put them into trays. The meetings had no relevance to my job at all. But 3 hours of my week was these meetings. Work from home, these meetings disappeared entirely.

Then we had hour long weekly meetings about our department. Most of this involved repairs. Repairs involved three of the 8 workers, only one which worked in my room. Only time it involved me was to remind us the last week of every month was three days of inventory counting. These were gone during the pandemic.

Then had random daily conservations with planners and coordinators who come with a simple question then tie us up for 30 to minutes to an hour in random nonsense unrelated to our jobs, like stuff involving the plant softball team games, or going away parties. The team building nonsense stuff both on the clock or off it. More stuff that was gone during the pandemic.

What I heard was the people who stayed at the plant through the pandemic were routinely finishing hours before he normally did simply because the natural distractions were gone. And the people working at home were more effective for the same reason. No plant presentation meetings, department meetings dropped to mere minutes and all this office culture shit dropped like a stone. Then first chance they got they dragged everyone back, production stalled fast and most departments had to hire more people to catch back up.

I am of the opinion that 90% of meetings could be an email or don't even need to happen. I can count the number of meetings on one hand that gave me any kind of valuable information for work or my personal betterment.

A couple weeks ago I had 8 hours worth of meetings. That's a work days worth and honestly nothing was said that was different from what has been presented via emails. So thank you to my company for paying me to waste my time I guess?

Yeah people who do not do office work, do not get just how much of it is spent in useless meetings from layers of management. My favorite is when you sit through a powerpoint presentation where they just read the slides. Like I could not do this at home? And of course all are mandatory because each manager leading them needs to feel like they have control.

Saw number that it was 10% to 20% of the workweek spent in meetings for office jobs. Not shockening, productivity of WFH rose 10% to 20% in estimates.

All that is contrary to the data. We've covered that extensively.

Now, hypothetically... did productivity hypothetically go down when people returned to the office due to environmental factors (meetings, chitchat, office shenanigans) or did it go down because of disengagement?

If I'm forced to do something against my will, how engaged do you think I'll be?

Factor in several hundred people across a business hypothetically feeling disengaged because they've been rattled by an office mandate and, you've guessed it. Productivity goes down.

The office environment isn't the issue, the issue is simply not wanting to be there in the first place, irregardless of how efficient the office is.

Nov 20, 2023 23:03:15 GMT c said:

Yeah people who do not do office work, do not get just how much of it is spent in useless meetings from layers of management. My favorite is when you sit through a powerpoint presentation where they just read the slides. Like I could not do this at home? And of course all are mandatory because each manager leading them needs to feel like they have control.

Saw number that it was 10% to 20% of the workweek spent in meetings for office jobs. Not shockening, productivity of WFH rose 10% to 20% in estimates.

We go through a PowerPoint presentation weekly via Teams. The lead (WFH) will read out a summary sheet first then hand over each slide to each manager. We then recite almost word for word what he said, this rinse and repeat process takes 90 minutes. Then his lead, will summarise what everyone just said. This gets us to 2 hours.

I completely understand.

In my previous job. We'd sit through 90 minutes as a zone. Then another 90 minutes as a group, where our lead would recite the same bullshit as if we weren't on the previous meeting. Then, we'd all cover off our individual slides. Then after that, I run another meeting talking in more detail on my particular subject matter. That was my Tuesday. All of it.

Looking like stores are going to reopen registers. People finally ran the numbers are realized that moving to almost entirely self-checkout, as lead to so much theft, intentional or accidental, that it is cheaper to not automate checkouts.

They were also having trouble seeing people persecuted for theft, because so long as you make an effort to look like you are trying to scan something, you have plausible deniability to the intention to stoplift. A lot of the cases are failing in court over the intention side as any lawyer worth their salt and argue that without training in how to use these systems mistakes in use will be extremely common. And mistakes are not the same as intentional action in the eyes of the law.

Self-checkout will still be a thing, but pushing all customers through a self-checkout pod run by a single employee will not likely be the norm for much longer. Cost to many stores is theft rates doubling or tripling since they removed almost all employees from the front of the store. No breakdown between intentional and accidental theft attempted.

Course if they're still offering low wages for cashier work... don't forget open availability so you can get 24 hrs...

Yup. If $50 or so is stolen an hour from self-checkout, can replace that loss with 5 workers. That said people have looked at the reported theft numbers, and it looks like it is not theft from shoppers that is the main cause of loss.

Speaking of places being mismanaged great story appeared.

Bagger at Krogers managed to steal a million in two weeks with fake returns. While he is going to jail, the entire management team on the frontend and office should be fired. A fucking million dollars in returns in two weeks in a supermarket and no one noticed it. He made about 40 transactions it is claimed. None of this shit makes sense. That would be 25000 in returns, at a supermarket, per transaction. And management let it happen.

www.the-sun.com/news/9643871/kroger-grocery-bagger-stealing-theft/

Nov 20, 2023 23:17:07 GMT NATH45 said:

Nov 20, 2023 23:03:15 GMT c said:

Yeah people who do not do office work, do not get just how much of it is spent in useless meetings from layers of management. My favorite is when you sit through a powerpoint presentation where they just read the slides. Like I could not do this at home? And of course all are mandatory because each manager leading them needs to feel like they have control.

Saw number that it was 10% to 20% of the workweek spent in meetings for office jobs. Not shockening, productivity of WFH rose 10% to 20% in estimates.

We go through a PowerPoint presentation weekly via Teams. The lead (WFH) will read out a summary sheet first then hand over each slide to each manager. We then recite almost word for word what he said, this rinse and repeat process takes 90 minutes. Then his lead, will summarise what everyone just said. This gets us to 2 hours.

I completely understand.

In my previous job. We'd sit through 90 minutes as a zone. Then another 90 minutes as a group, where our lead would recite the same bullshit as if we weren't on the previous meeting. Then, we'd all cover off our individual slides. Then after that, I run another meeting talking in more detail on my particular subject matter. That was my Tuesday. All of it.

That is my definition of hell. 

Nov 21, 2023 6:40:51 GMT c said:

Looking like stores are going to reopen registers. People finally ran the numbers are realized that moving to almost entirely self-checkout, as lead to so much theft, intentional or accidental, that it is cheaper to not automate checkouts.

They were also having trouble seeing people persecuted for theft, because so long as you make an effort to look like you are trying to scan something, you have plausible deniability to the intention to stoplift. A lot of the cases are failing in court over the intention side as any lawyer worth their salt and argue that without training in how to use these systems mistakes in use will be extremely common. And mistakes are not the same as intentional action in the eyes of the law.

Self-checkout will still be a thing, but pushing all customers through a self-checkout pod run by a single employee will not likely be the norm for much longer. Cost to many stores is theft rates doubling or tripling since they removed almost all employees from the front of the store. No breakdown between intentional and accidental theft attempted.

I am SOOOO happy to hear this.  I don't care what caused the decision to be reversed, the fact is I loathe self checkouts and everything they stand for.  Right up there when a vendor asks me to make my orders online. If you aren't paying me to be a cashier or inside sales person then get bent. 

I prefer self-checkout for most things, but like if I am getting wine to cook with I do not want to wait 15 minutes for someone to show up and card my transaction through.

What I do wonder is if they will actually open registers though, or just assign people at doors to check your recipes and go through your bags. It really could go either way based on store managers.

I think companies really wanna move to warehouse models in the coming generation. We already have home delivery and personal shoppers. It's slowly going that way where people won't even be going in the stores. Certainly one way to avoid shrink... at least outside payroll. I enjoy the grocery experience and it's sadly a highlight of the week for me, granted I always go @ 8am to avoid the crowds and lines.

Future def will be ship to home, on demand. Drone delivery already started to take off. Everyone says it will not happen, but where I lived in NC just got it. Mix this with automated delivery cars and most brick and mortar is dead. Mercedes plans to hit level 4 (human interaction only required in emergencies) autonomous cars by 2030, and level 5, driverless cars, will come as soon as safety data comes out.

Some think they will jump ahead and get things out sooner, but only Mercedes has a certified level 3 in operation. But right now the hold up is not AI but laws. Part of the reason people like Musk asked for a halt to AI is because they are now behind, and now are lobbying to stall shit until they catch up.

Sci-fi idea some had would speed shit up with rail infrastructure built by a corporate tax, to allow small rail based shit to move packages from warehouses to homes.  Once system is setup, taxes drop to just maintenance which will be a fraction of what shipping costs today.

Nov 21, 2023 6:40:51 GMT c said:

Looking like stores are going to reopen registers. People finally ran the numbers are realized that moving to almost entirely self-checkout, as lead to so much theft, intentional or accidental, that it is cheaper to not automate checkouts.

They were also having trouble seeing people persecuted for theft, because so long as you make an effort to look like you are trying to scan something, you have plausible deniability to the intention to stoplift. A lot of the cases are failing in court over the intention side as any lawyer worth their salt and argue that without training in how to use these systems mistakes in use will be extremely common. And mistakes are not the same as intentional action in the eyes of the law.

Self-checkout will still be a thing, but pushing all customers through a self-checkout pod run by a single employee will not likely be the norm for much longer. Cost to many stores is theft rates doubling or tripling since they removed almost all employees from the front of the store. No breakdown between intentional and accidental theft attempted.

We went almost full self checkout last fall. Theft is up like 50% in my location alone. We’ve had dozens of meetings about it… lol.

They've just started installing these new star trek looking gates at supermarkets here - apparently if the AI thinks you've stolen something it will lock you in. :lol:

Nov 22, 2023 21:04:12 GMT @admin said:

They've just started installing these new star trek looking gates at supermarkets here - apparently if the AI thinks you've stolen something it will lock you in.

What could go wrong?  :rofl:

Another idea that was meant to be coming in was a tap as you go app backed by CCTV. It was being trialled a few years ago in Woolworths, and likely because AI is everyone's new toy, it's likely now getting some skynet DNA.

Basically, you download the app and scan the barcode as you're shopping and then when you're leaving you tap on a NFC to finalise your transaction and the gates open. Any inconsistencies and it will likely halt and catch fire like most self serve machines.

I'm not sure what movie it's in, but I'm sure I saw it in a Hollywood movie recently, and the main character struggling with it.

It baffles me that the rest of the world struggles with self service machines, they have become ubiquitous in UK stores and I much prefer them over the cashier. Big supermarket are about 50/50 but smaller stores typically have one cashier and like five self service stations.

To be fair, the first time I used one I was baffled and embarrassed myself (I was with a friend at the time) but it’s like anything, learn the process once and it becomes second nature.

I think the first time I was forced to use them was in the UK. This particular convenience store was basically a guy standing at the end of a bank of self serve machines.

Uptake was initially somewhat slow, particularly in regional areas where jobs are apparently in short supply. Many older people saw it as the machines replacing the workers.

The supermarkets stated, the employees would instead be utilised on the floor. They lied. It never happen. Maybe initially.

Headcounts in many stores dropped over the course of the next 10 years significantly, and the wage spend/hours allocation this year vs last year always seemed to be -10% while usually running at a +10%-20% sales and item increase on that previous year.

So, the oldies were right.

Nov 22, 2023 21:04:12 GMT @admin said:

They've just started installing these new star trek looking gates at supermarkets here - apparently if the AI thinks you've stolen something it will lock you in. :lol:

The AI thing is new, I had it come up with a message asking for staff assistance because of an error i.e. they think you stole something.
The lady asked if she could look inside my bag... I said "no" I did it in a nice way with a smile.
She cleared the error and I finished my shopping.

I am not going to allow them to look in my bag because they can't be arsed staffing registers.

Nov 23, 2023 23:59:51 GMT Emperor said:

It baffles me that the rest of the world struggles with self service machines, they have become ubiquitous in UK stores and I much prefer them over the cashier. Big supermarket sre about 50/50 but smaller stores typically have one cashier and like five self service stations.

To be fair, the first time I used one I was baffled and embarrassed myself (I was with a friend at the time) but it’s like anything, learn the process once and it becomes second nature.

I'm not baffled by them, I hate them and refused to use them for several reasons, the biggest of which is because they contribute to the Unemployment rate. Not everyone can work a corporate job and jobs like a cashier keep lower to middle class people and teenagers working and contributing to society rather than being a drain on it.  Labour is a huge cost to a company so if they can have 1 lower paid cashier overseeing several self checkouts, win for them. The CEO gets a bigger bonus and 9 other people are out of work.  What really sticks in my craw is that you are essentially doing that position for free then and even though they are saving money by having YOU do it and employing 1 person instead of 10, I don't see the prices getting lower or them giving you a discount for using self checkout. You are just helping to pay for a CEO's vacation home and send your taxes higher so the people who don't have a job can now apply for welfare etc. 

I could go on, but I think this is a good start on the evil that is self checkouts. 

I understand the issue with the machines replacing the workers. In the UK there's only one worker per lane, the cashier who scans the items and takes the payment. We bag our own groceries.

In the USA and presumably other countries you have the cashier and the person who bags your groceries. There's probably a different person who takes your payment and a person who is employed to chat with you while you wait...all of whom receive a tip. Much more workers get replaced.

We have staff dedicated to supporting with the self service machines because they do glitch out a lot. They never look inside bags (not that I would mind), they usually just unlock the machine and maybe ask a question if they are suspicious.

Nov 24, 2023 0:22:13 GMT Emperor said:

I understand the issue with the machines replacing the workers. In the UK there's only one worker per lane, the cashier who scans the items and takes the payment. We bag our own groceries.

In the USA and presumably other countries you have the cashier and the person who bags your groceries. There's probably a different person who takes your payment and a person who is employed to chat with you while you wait...all of whom receive a tip. Much more workers get replaced.

We have staff dedicated to supporting with the self service machines because they do glitch out a lot. They never look inside bags (not that I would mind), they usually just unlock the machine and maybe ask a question if they are suspicious.

In the US the cashier takes payment and bags. There may be a floating bagger working multiple lanes. There isn’t tipping at a grocery store. Many/most grocery store positions are unionized. Baggers are often people with mental disabilities since it’s a relatively simple job.

I like self-checkout as a replacement for express lanes. I don’t want to be stuck behind a full cart. But my store added a self-checkout with conveyor belt so they could have zero cashiers late. Fuck that shit.

Seems like major money management firm all seeing execs gutting managers. Same as what was being reported a few months back, almost all middle management is fired, and most upper management gone. Tens of thousands of managers gonna be looking for new work next year in a field that no longer wants a 1 to 1 ratio of management.  New model it seems for most companies is to focus on people who produce value for companies, and management does not add much value.

As predicted.

And, it's a fantastic way to remove all those militant WFH'ers who sit unproductive and add little to nothing of value to the company culture.

The irony is these were people screaming for people to be back in the office, while they managed from home. Turns out people do not need to be told how to do their jobs, by people who have not done that job. And upper level management does not need a summary of what is going on from people not working directly with a team.

Frankly, middle management is the worst type of administrative bloat we seen, and companies should have cut them way before now. Some companies literally were over a 1:1 ratio of management to laborer. And once admin bloat fills a company, they often give themselves high raises. Cutting them cuts an insane amount of cost.

I cannot wait until business rags start to fill with crying middle management trying to get their jobs back, but frankly, no one gives a shit about them or their parasitic behavior.

Finally, he makes some sense. Hats off. Middle Management is a cancer. If you want to kill engagement and morale in a company, brand or store go ahead and hire a hotshot straight out of College to tell 20 year vets how to do their jobs.

My concerns with a lot of middle management and what you'd call at group and zone operation levels is, they aren't loyal. Their resumes read like a shopping list of roles - executive, coordinator, manager, partner, etc. with little more than a few years in each role. Sure, chasing the salary increases is one thing, but I'm convinced most jump ship once the honeymoon period is over. 

In my jobs it was the opposite. They were parasites that were extremely well paid after embedding themselves and digging in for a few years. No other job would hire someone that did so little for so much again.

For the roles, that is how promotions work in this area. They have dozens of terms for the same job. Instead of a meaningful promotion every few years they get a new title. But the job is the same. But most do not want to job dance, as it means they have to actually work for a few years before they embed and can vanish from expected duties.