Categories
Antiwork

Nobody talks about it but companies and employers are guilty of ‘quiet quitting’ as well.

For over 24 years now I have worked for the current third-largest drugstore chain.Early on in my tenure it was rocked by an accounting scandal but new corporate management that rescued the chain from potential bankruptcy.For the past decade however the company has been gradually losing its way:First it was a pair of failed mergers with larger food/drug chains,the first which was blocked outright but did lead to market exits(Dixie and mountain West states plus some downsizing in the northeast States).In fact it was around the time of the botched second merger a number of store closures occurred in core go-forward markets (including my longtime home store).The ouster of that prior CEO has proven to be a cure worse than the disease:Just before the pandemic crossed borders and oceans,the new corporate regime decided to reduce or outright eliminate 'non-core'merchandise categories outside of its hba focus;and this especially had an significantly…


For over 24 years now I have worked for the current third-largest drugstore chain.Early on in my tenure it was rocked by an accounting scandal but new corporate management that rescued the chain from potential bankruptcy.For the past decade however the company has been gradually losing its way:First it was a pair of failed mergers with larger food/drug chains,the first which was blocked outright but did lead to market exits(Dixie and mountain West states plus some downsizing in the northeast States).In fact it was around the time of the botched second merger a number of store closures occurred in core go-forward markets (including my longtime home store).The ouster of that prior CEO has proven to be a cure worse than the disease:Just before the pandemic crossed borders and oceans,the new corporate regime decided to reduce or outright eliminate 'non-core'merchandise categories outside of its hba focus;and this especially had an significantly adverse impact on its West Coast Stores which generally have been larger than those out east being a legacy of west coast chain they acquired 26 years ago,though a couple years ago somehow they acquired a small Seattle chain that boosted their market share there.As a result many West Coast locations either have holes in some aisles (with cardboard cutout filler)or have some aisles completely shelved off(including my current store).Then about a year ago they announced mass store closures: initially they intended to close 63 unprofitable locations but that figure has ballooned to at least 160 out of roughly 2400 that we're operating at at this time a year ago.In my media market(Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto)eight locations have closed so far.Also around Christmas we started experiencing staff retention issues to the point that we have intermittently had to reduce operating hours.For the past couple months (rock bottom was when the prior store manager bailed leaving the front end was just three employees other than myself,only one in management plus two barely-hired newbies one being a minor)we've been; operating reduced hours (mirroring those of the pharmacy which somehow has averted the staffing calamities of the front end);and despite the fact we gained several transfers from a closed store nearby several weeks ago,the new store manager has his hands tied since regional and/or corporate management isn't allowing him to fill supervisor vacancies(the existing holdover we had gained months ago in a previous closure bailed,and not long after a transfer we barely had returned to her old supermarket gig).It's clear that the company has quietly quitted.I'm hoping that I'm spared the possibility of a second store closure of my long tenure,but given that a pair of SoCal closures have occurred within the past week, I just can't be optimistic about my company anymore.Complicating things the unofficial themed subreddit for the company in question is currently on lockdown.Am I alone or are there other companies clearly guilty of 'quiet quitting' on the corporate end?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.