Breaking News, What do M's Emplyees think of M

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It's about what I'd expect. Both corporate jobs I've had are fighting for worst job I've ever had.
 
Running a large company in retail and keeping all your thousand or more employees happy is never going to happen. To survive in volume retail you have to have low, or at least, competitive prices. There just is not all that much profit left for decent salaries at almost all but upper management levels. Even those salaries do not compare with the same positions in other industries.

Look at small independent framers, what are their pay levels and benefits? Most are probably better than big box, but probably not by all that much.

The one thing I do know for sure, no matter what people are paid, or what benefits they receive, it is never enough. Look at government employment. Most, if not all, government jobs are at the very top of the pay and benefit scale, yet most government employees feel that they are not being paid enough by us greedy taxpayers.

People spend or go into debt for whatever they are earning, they leave little aside for discretionary spending, so they always feel "poor". Most folks who work in retail earn enough to barely exist. Their idea of discretionary income is having enough for a six pack on Saturday night.

Putting up a blog about a large employer in retail accomplishes very little other than giving the troops a place to bitch about their jobs. In the Army we had an old saying about that: "The troops are never happy unless they are bitching."

John
 
I think what's interesting is that M's apparently had a very poor 4th quarter, and is going to be cutting a lot of workers. I think we can start to expect a dropoff in both customer service (hahahahahahaha) and decent quality framing, as M's relies more on rookies and part-timers.
 
Good heavens.I know a nice couple that work at an M`s(framing,no less) wonder how they are doing?......L
 
****Not sticking up for Michaels here*****

People remember the name of this site, jobvent. As you read notice that these are mainly people who no longer work for the company, they have an "axe to grind"

That being said, Michaels Sucks!
 
JRB - you are way out in left field about government employees being way at the top of the pay and benefits scale. You should look at the GSA pay scale and at the type of work those employees are doing before you make such a generalized statement - also, take into consideration those same government employees you are taking a shot at are also "greedy taxpayers".
 
Joe B said:
JRB - you are way out in left field about government employees being way at the top of the pay and benefits scale. You should look at the GSA pay scale and at the type of work those employees are doing before you make such a generalized statement - also, take into consideration those same government employees you are taking a shot at are also "greedy taxpayers".
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Lets see now, they feed at the public trough or I guess you could say they are paid by tax dollars, and you say they pay taxes as well? So we pay them with taxes and we take some of those taxes back. Makes me wonder just how many government jobs are being created collecting all those taxes back from our tax dollars? Worse yet, how many billions do we spend giving it and taking it back?

Then there is the other thing that bothers me. We pay all these people with our taxes, yet if we want any service from them, we have to pay extra for it???

In California thousands of privates sector people are losing jobs every day. The California government is now raising taxes, including sales tax, in order to keep from laying off government employees, due to the poor economy. I imagine that if the higher sales taxes slows down the economy even more, they will have to keep raising them.

My ex wife was a GSA employee who was earning over $75,000.00 per year back in the 1970s and early 80s. She was never able to get a civilian job, not even in a donut shop, yet the GSA snapped her right up????

You seem to be an expert on government employees, please explain why their jobs are more important to our country than the privates sector peoples? You know, the folks who actually produce real income for our economy?

John
 
When you work for someone who lies to the public every week about their frames being on sale for 50%-off, why would you expect they'll treat you any better? But as Tim pointed out, that website hardly provides a valid data sample.
 
John - you are talking about your local state tax - they are not on
Federal GSA pay plan though your state employees may be getting paid at the federal level - I do not know.

If your ex-wife was making $75,000.00 in the '70 & early '80s she must have been the on the President's staff because she sure didn't make it on the GSA pay scale unless, just maybe, she was high up on the exectutive pay scale and I don't even think they even made that much at that time. It is easy to check - you can find GSA pay scales on the web. Right now, today, the pay scale for a GS 12-1 is approx. $67,500.00 plus location adjustment. The average GS rating of the federal employee is no where near a GS 12, I believe it is more an average of GS-6 or 7 which is in the high $30K to low $40K range. Again, check it out - it is on the web.
 
This is just so sad.

I think its important that when we say we don't favor BB's, it should mean we don't care their policies or their sales.... and not that we dislike the people. They have to have a job just like we do. They don't make the rules.

This is the first time in my lifetime that it has seemed private sector jobs are more stable than corporate jobs. At least that seems true locally. In the end, perhaps it will allow a buildup of more independent businesses.
 
I feel bad for all these full time, long time employees.

Also, not defending Michael's;
A blog like that will never give you an objective view of course.
I have worked in some quite large corporations, and the employees will always complain about pay and benefits and bad management. Having at one time had a few employees working for us, we know they were complaining (behind our backs of course) about pay and benefits. (and we paid very well) It's never enough, everyone always feel entitled to something. Sometimes people should step in the shoes of their opponent for a change.
 
Joe B said:
John - you are talking about your local state tax - they are not on
Federal GSA pay plan though your state employees may be getting paid at the federal level - I do not know.

If your ex-wife was making $75,000.00 in the '70 & early '80s she must have been the on the President's staff because she sure didn't make it on the GSA pay scale unless, just maybe, she was high up on the exectutive pay scale and I don't even think they even made that much at that time. It is easy to check - you can find GSA pay scales on the web. Right now, today, the pay scale for a GS 12-1 is approx. $67,500.00 plus location adjustment. The average GS rating of the federal employee is no where near a GS 12, I believe it is more an average of GS-6 or 7 which is in the high $30K to low $40K range. Again, check it out - it is on the web.
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This was after we had divorced, my daughter told me how much she was making. She was a GS-7 stationed in Okinawa. I will be willing to bet that any government job pays more than double after overtime and benefits than the average comparable private sector job. Why doesn't the government do what the private sector has to do to make ends meet, use part time people in order to keep payroll down?

If the private sector thought like government employees, a basic Ford car would cost over a hundred thousand dollars now since fewer are selling. A poster special would be five hundred dollars, since fewer are selling. Rather than lay off employees or use part time help, we could just keep raising our prices. The private sector knows that would never work, yet it makes perfect sense to government. Raise taxes or print more money, what could be easier?


John
 
John - I would like to continue this conversation with you but I don't believe it is the right post for that - we can easily start a new post in the Warped. I can give you some facts that you can verify showing some of your beliefs are not correct. Believe me, there are many that believe like you.
About your ex-wife, she must have been getting housing/benefits/and salary to make that much at that time. Joe
 
The best way to be employed, is to be self-employed.
 
" I can give you some facts that you can verify showing some of your beliefs are not correct."

Almost sounds religious.

John
 
read that web with true sorrow----that conditions have been allowed to happen at all is unconscionable(and pretty unavoidable), but in 'this' timeframe is totally immoral!!!!!! I have been thu 2 full scale leveraged buyouts---they just NEVER seem to work very long---they always seem to need to 'gut the carcase' so the 'big' guy(s) dont get caught hanging.
about a decade ago my wife worked for m's, very PT as a craft instructor....she severed relationships when it started to get very 'clicky' about who worked when etc etc, and when told her she would have to pay for her own class supplies(previous to that the vendors either gave the stuff to the store for that purpose or the store fronted the supply $$ to get people into the store for the classes so they'd BUY more supplies for themselves!).
kinda hard to understand how everyone doesn't feel like going postal on them???????? Problem IS, the &^%$#'s that are responsible for the whole mess wouldn't be the ones to 'get it' (& they don't, and never will). truely sad
 
A few years ago, I lost an employee to the postal service. It killed me that I couldn't compete with them on pay and benefits. Isn't framing a more skilled vocation than matching up numbers on envelopes to numbers on mail boxes???

(This is NOT to demean mailpersons, I'm sure they're good, hard working Americans.[size=-2]((but they are overpaid))[/size]).
 
My postal lady is one courageous lady. She always has a smile for me as she exits the postal truck and delivers the mail inside the store.

Overpaid............she was crying the other day because a person had spit on her because the person's welfare check had not arrived. Last year a dog bit her. Her boss received a complaint about her because their mail was delivered with a crease in an envelope. She is yelled at when returning mail because the customer FORGOT to put a stamp on it. She has to deliver to so many mailboxes per minute, per hour, just like the grocery checker. She has had to move garbage to get at a mail box. And she does deliver in floods and snow, especially snow. All of the above is bad, but having someone spit on you is intolerable.

CEO of Washington Mutual is overpaid and lets get on the soap box and go after Howard Shultz of Starbucks fame who sold our Sonics down the river!

Ok, I vented enough, it is ice cream time !!!!!!!!
 
Forget about the CEO's who are being raked into the coals for good reason.
Forget about the postal workers who AREN'T over paid but have a really strong union.

Let's talk about every single major college and University out there with a major sports team (FB, BB, & BB). There is not a single institution out there with the words University of _______________ or ___________ State College/University that isn't hurting from the lack of funds to hire enough good teachers/instructors/professors.

BUT, they are paying the coaches 1, 2, & 3 Million bucks a year. To teach? NO. To create honest, clean, accountable members of society? No. Just to win. Some how there is a disconnect..... those "teachers" are State Employees..... and you are their paycheck provider. Now, who's overpaid?

University of Oregon, and Orgon state pay two people a combined income and comp package that would pay for 23 full paid professors, or 47 teachers or 58 instructors with 82 grad student TAs.

Don't get me started, it drives me nuts. But they layed off 19 doctors and 59 nursing staff because the State Medical Hospital was $30mil in the red. . . . while they are going ahead with a $280 million new "state of the art" basket ball arena to replace the perfectly good 85 yr old Mac Court,.. which should be on the Historical Society listing.
 
Doug Gemmell said:
A few years ago, I lost an employee to the postal service. It killed me that I couldn't compete with them on pay and benefits. Isn't framing a more skilled vocation than matching up numbers on envelopes to numbers on mail boxes???

(This is NOT to demean mailpersons, I'm sure they're good, hard working Americans.[size=-2]((but they are overpaid))[/size]).
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:soapbox:
Hey! I use to represent that remark.
Walking 13 miles a day putting up with 300+ dogs-most not purchased to be pets, and putting up with constant harassement to "Go Faster!":icon45:
I don't think I was overpaid at all.:kaffeetrinker_2:

Terry:icon21:
 
This is all hypothetical so let's not get hysterical. It's "in a perfect world" question, so to speak:

Who should be paid more, framers or mailpersons, or should their pay be roughly equal? Should the benefits be more, less, or equal. Should framers get the same sick leave, vacation time, retirement, health insurance?
 
Baer Charlton said:
Forget about the CEO's who are being raked into the coals for good reason.
Forget about the postal workers who AREN'T over paid but have a really strong union.

Let's talk about every single major college and University out there with a major sports team (FB, BB, & BB). There is not a single institution out there with the words University of _______________ or ___________ State College/University that isn't hurting from the lack of funds to hire enough good teachers/instructors/professors.

BUT, they are paying the coaches 1, 2, & 3 Million bucks a year. To teach? NO. To create honest, clean, accountable members of society? No. Just to win. Some how there is a disconnect..... those "teachers" are State Employees..... and you are their paycheck provider. Now, who's overpaid?

University of Oregon, and Orgon state pay two people a combined income and comp package that would pay for 23 full paid professors, or 47 teachers or 58 instructors with 82 grad student TAs.

Don't get me started, it drives me nuts. But they layed off 19 doctors and 59 nursing staff because the State Medical Hospital was $30mil in the red. . . . while they are going ahead with a $280 million new "state of the art" basket ball arena to replace the perfectly good 85 yr old Mac Court,.. which should be on the Historical Society listing.
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Well said! I live at ground zero for UK sports....Disturbing how much $ goes to sports while the rest of the departments,especially art gets passed over!! L.
 
The college coach issue came up with Jim Calhoun, the coach of the University of Connecticut men's basketball team. The team has been one of the best in the country for years. Calhoun is paid $1.7 million, if I remember correctly. That's a lot of money for the taxpayers to pony up, right?

Except the taxpayers aren't paying a penny of it. Under Calhoun, the basketball program brings in at least $5 million a year. Calhoun not only brings in every penny of his salary from ticket sales and TV revenue, he makes money for the university.

The same can be said of most coaches for big time college football and basketball programs.
 
Speaking of misplaced priorities:

I was listening to the news on the radio this morning and suddenly they had this ominous music with an "Important News Bulletin" interruption.

I feared the worst, terrorist attack? Nuclear mishap, Major fire??

None of the above; Alex Rodriguez will go for hip surgery and NY Yankees will be without him for a few weeks......

Give me an effing break.:fire:
 
Well said Baer - I thought, not only the Universities but also the K thru 12, where suppose to be places of learning. I would think the school system & university system would dispose of the sports programs before they lay off teacher of main studies - nope the teachers go and the coaches get to hire more assistants - go figure.
 
It's all where the Alum's priorities are! At SIU we are not laying off any teachers but we are building a multimillion dollar football stadium and revamping the basketball arena. Not one penny is coming from the school, but is privately funded by alumni who will only give the money to the sports department. When asked for money for labs and such, many turned down the university. :shrug:

Tom
 
PaulSF said:
The college coach issue came up with Jim Calhoun, the coach of the University of Connecticut men's basketball team. The team has been one of the best in the country for years. Calhoun is paid $1.7 million, if I remember correctly. That's a lot of money for the taxpayers to pony up, right?

Except the taxpayers aren't paying a penny of it. Under Calhoun, the basketball program brings in at least $5 million a year. Calhoun not only brings in every penny of his salary from ticket sales and TV revenue, he makes money for the university.

The same can be said of most coaches for big time college football and basketball programs.
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Exactly. The major sports - football and basketball - provide the money for all the other sports. I could see arguing that our colleges should not have sports at all, but Jim Calhoun has done more for the state of Connecticut than anyone. He deserves what he makes.
 
Thedra said:
It's all where the Alum's priorities are! At SIU we are not laying off any teachers but we are building a multimillion dollar football stadium and revamping the basketball arena. Not one penny is coming from the school, but is privately funded by alumni who will only give the money to the sports department. When asked for money for labs and such, many turned down the university. :shrug:

Tom
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That explains why our athletes are well known for their brain power.

Our kids' future looks even brighter.....
 
So he makes 1.7 million and generates 5 million in sales.

That 34% of sales.

The Minnesota Vikings generate about 167 million in Revenue and the coach is paid about a million.

In my mind Calhoun is grossly overpaid.

Doug
 
Doug, then you have to factor in a couple of other things. By running a very successful program at Connecticut (and the same is true of any major sports university), Calhoun raises the profile of that school. Potential students are more interested in attending UConn than they might otherwise be. Alumni feel a greater kinship to the university, and are more apt to support the university with donations.

So let's review. Calhoun's success generates enough money to:

1) Pay his own salary
2) Pay the expenses of the basketball program
3) Pay for other sports programs that don't generate much revenue, for example wrestling, women's volleyball, diving, lacrosse, etc.
 
PaulSF said:
Doug, then you have to factor in a couple of other things. By running a very successful program at Connecticut (and the same is true of any major sports university), Calhoun raises the profile of that school. Potential students are more interested in attending UConn than they might otherwise be. Alumni feel a greater kinship to the university, and are more apt to support the university with donations.

So let's review. Calhoun's success generates enough money to:

1) Pay his own salary
2) Pay the expenses of the basketball program
3) Pay for other sports programs that don't generate much revenue, for example wrestling, women's volleyball, diving, lacrosse, etc.
Click to expand...

Let's take this type of thinking a bit further then:

So, if the coach and his team do badly (no one is successful forever after all), then the whole reputation of the school is ruined and nobody wants to be associated with such a bunch of losers at UConn.

I'd say it'd be pretty sad to bet the whole school's reputation, attendance and other sports on a sports coach!!
 
Tell me about it, Paul. I went to University of Michigan, and we had a terrible season under a new football coach.
 
Paul Cascio said:
Exactly. The major sports - football and basketball - provide the money for all the other sports. I could see arguing that our colleges should not have sports at all, but Jim Calhoun has done more for the state of Connecticut than anyone. He deserves what he makes.
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Joe Paterno (Penn State coach) built the new library at State College with his funds. I think it was around 15 million $$. And like many other schools, the football program at Penn State is a profit center. No money comes out of university funds.

(how is this related to what M's employees think)
 
I'd say pretty sad to bet the whole school's reputation, attendance and other sports on a sports coach!!
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Are you suggesting that universities are supposed to be for academic achievement, and sports programs, as they exist today, only create an unwelcome diversion from the purposes of higher education?

Let's take this type of thinking a bit further then. How would you feel about universities limiting the influence of sports within the academic community? Should they make the athletes and coaches pay their own way? How about dumping their sports programs altogether?

For those who crave competition, the schools could get serious about chess competitions, poetry competitions, advanced math and science exhibitions, and competitions to invent better alternative energy sources, such as solor car races. All of these endeavors already exist in most major universities, but they are overshadowed by the sports programs. If big-money sports were out of the picture, do you suppose the alumni would support that sort of academic competition more enthusiastically?
 
Jim Miller said:
For those who crave competition, the schools could get serious about chess competitions, poetry competitions, advanced math and science exhibitions, and competitions to invent better alternative energy sources, such as solor car races. All of these endeavors already exist in most major universities, but they are overshadowed by the sports programs. If big-money sports were out of the picture, do you suppose the alumni would support that sort of academic competition more enthusiastically?
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NO!!!!!!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!

It would be awfully weird to have cheerleaders at a Chess match.......:D

Winning/Awesome Sports Program = More students that want to go to the school = More $$$$$ for the school = Better venues and programs for students = Winning/Awesome Sports Program
Hmmmmm What am I not getting here...........:rolleyes:
 
Jim Miller said:
Are you suggesting that universities are supposed to be for academic achievement, and sports programs, as they exist today, only create an unwelcome diversion from the purposes of higher education?
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Actually yes.

And your alleged problem with higher education would be.....????

Aren't you the same person who has a never ending crusade about the state of the education system??

All those top European schools and universities who don't share the headless need for a sports team and a multi millionaire
​
coach must be producing idiots, or must have no students attending them.
Like some smart people posted before: Which one will get a faster / higher raise a good teacher or a good coach??

That's what I call skrewed up thinking.
 
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