I used to work at the Borders (the bookstore) corporate office in Ann Arbor, MI. Those of you who live in the area, work at Borders still, or used to work at Borders are well aware of the fact that about 90 people were laid off there this week. The article about the layoffs in the Detroit News was quite short, so I’ll just post it here:
Borders Group to lay off 90 staffers, mostly at Ann Arbor headquarters
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
Borders Group Inc. today announced the layoff of 90 workers, most from the bookstore company's headquarters in Ann Arbor. The layoffs represent about 6 percent of the workforce there, said spokeswoman Anne Roman.
The staffers can receive counseling and severance pay of 30 days of pay plus one week's pay for every year of service. Borders also will provide opportunity for these employees to meet with a professional recruitment firm.
"We have a responsibility to our employees, customers and shareholders to maintain an appropriate balance of costs relative to current and projected sales and income opportunities," Roman said. "Looking at our current trends and five-year plan, it is clear that corporate costs require adjustment at this time."
Roman said the layoffs are not related to the company announcement today it has corrected its first- quarter financial statements, posting a 31-cent loss, two cents more than announced on May 23. The error occurred in fiscal year 2005, company officials said.
There will be no layoffs at the chain's Borders and Waldenbooks stores, Roman said.
The day after it happened, I talked to one of my friends who was laid off and I got the names of other people in the company who were also laid off. Many of them were some of the best people I know and certainly people who had worked hard to make the company as good as it could be, sometimes by asking the unpopular questions or by stepping out of the “yes man” box to bring issues to the forefront. After I heard the list of the employees who got cut, it felt a little bit to me like the company was getting rid of some of its thinkers and questioners to allow itself to move forward on its current path without harassment. I also wondered who would do all the work with these people gone.
The whole situation made me really sad. The economy in all of Southeast Michigan is pretty challenged (part of the reason why we moved out of Michigan), so I know it will be difficult for my friends to find jobs if they want to continue to stay in the Ann Arbor area. Also, letting go of some of its most Borders-esque people (long time employees who really care about the employees in the stores and are trying to make the company great, rather than just profitable) seemed to signify a cultural shift for me -– out with the old and in with the new. I feel that, not only did my friends lose their jobs, but Borders as a company also lost a little bit more of what made me love it in the first place.
Obviously, business is business and publicly-traded companies need to do what they need to do to make the company profitable (something that Borders has been struggling with for quite some time). I get that. But I’m just enough of an idealist to believe that you can hire passionate people who work hard and are innovative and are thinkers and this can lead you to be successful as a company. I don’t believe that the lack of vision at Borders sits in the lower ranks of the company (where most of the cuts occurred). Instead, the upper management is desperately reacting, instead of deliberately acting.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
Oh, ipod! What am I going to do with you?
I got a little ipod for Christmas (just in case you're wondering, I named it "Little Dudelo"). I wasn’t sure when I was going to use it and if I would even enjoy it. I’m not exactly the first adapter of new technology and was thinking, “What I am going to do with this thing? How am I going to find anything on here?” I could see an ipod being useful if you ride the train to work for more than 30 minutes each way or if you are on vacation and don’t want to take your CD collection or if you are moving overseas and can’t take much stuff, but I didn’t know how an ipod would fit into my life. It seemed like more trouble than it was worth. My husband, on the other hand, was THRILLED!
In the past week, however, I have really started to enjoy my ipod a lot. I work in a typical office with the typical office distractions: doors opening and closing, people talking in the open areas or on the phone in nearby cubicles, people yelling at their computers, meetings in nearby conference rooms, etc. I have found that putting my ipod on while I sit at my desk allows me to ignore all of the distractions that are not aimed at me but just happen to occur near me. It also cuts down on some of the distractions that are aimed at me because people assume I’m busy and leave me to my business when they see the earphones in.
Overall, I like the soundtrack of my life to be created by the noise of my surroundings. I’m not generally the type of person who wants to impose a soundtrack of my choosing upon my environment by wearing headphones everywhere I go. I find that I need quiet time where there’s nothing demanding my attention. I’m also a friendly, outgoing person and find that wearing headphones greatly decreases your opportunity to interact with people. But sometimes you do want to cut down on interaction or distraction and I have really enjoyed having a tool to help me do that.
The only bad side effect is my tendency to sing along to my music or do a little dance at my desk. Hopefully, my cubicle neighbors are wearing their own headphones to cut down on that distraction.
In the past week, however, I have really started to enjoy my ipod a lot. I work in a typical office with the typical office distractions: doors opening and closing, people talking in the open areas or on the phone in nearby cubicles, people yelling at their computers, meetings in nearby conference rooms, etc. I have found that putting my ipod on while I sit at my desk allows me to ignore all of the distractions that are not aimed at me but just happen to occur near me. It also cuts down on some of the distractions that are aimed at me because people assume I’m busy and leave me to my business when they see the earphones in.
Overall, I like the soundtrack of my life to be created by the noise of my surroundings. I’m not generally the type of person who wants to impose a soundtrack of my choosing upon my environment by wearing headphones everywhere I go. I find that I need quiet time where there’s nothing demanding my attention. I’m also a friendly, outgoing person and find that wearing headphones greatly decreases your opportunity to interact with people. But sometimes you do want to cut down on interaction or distraction and I have really enjoyed having a tool to help me do that.
The only bad side effect is my tendency to sing along to my music or do a little dance at my desk. Hopefully, my cubicle neighbors are wearing their own headphones to cut down on that distraction.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Matt Besser Does Belmont
Tonight we went to a show at Bongo Java’s After Hours Theatre, across the street from Belmont University. Les had read that Matt Besser was going to be in town on his “Woo Pig Sooie” spoken word/comedy tour. If you’re like me, you might be saying, “Who’s Matt Besser, again?” He’s the curly-haired guy from The Upright Citizen’s Brigade, Les reminded me. “Oh, that guy!”
If you’re now saying, “What’s The Upright Citizen’s Brigade?” I guess I have to say that you should just stop reading this post now and go check out the DVD. UCB is scathingly honest, completely ridiculous sketch comedy that makes me laugh, gasp, and fidget in my seat, sometimes all in one scene.
We got to the venue about 40 minutes before the show. With time to kill, we went over to Tabouli’s for a quick bite to eat. I was surprised to find pretty good Middle Eastern food at a restaurant I had never heard of. Nashville’s best kept secret? I must explore that part of town more.
We rushed through dinner to get back in time for the show, only to find that the show had sold out. The woman who seemed to be in charge said that they might do a second show, so we put our names on the waiting list and decided to walk around the surrounding neighborhoods while we waited.
We found the Belmont area charming. We had never been in this area before and really enjoyed walking and looking at houses and yards and the people out and about.
Lucky for us, there was a second show and we got in (how awesome is it that Matt Besser stayed to do two shows back to back?!). When we got up to the After Hours Theatre area, we realized why the first show had sold out so quickly . . . the venue only seats about 35 people! Very intimate!
Matt covered a range of topics during his hour-long show: religion, politics, social pressures, etc. He read letters from his grandmother to his mom that were disturbing and shocking. I could relate to a lot of things he talked about, and I found his somewhat random jumping-from-one-topic-to-another style familiar and conversational. There were sad parts and laugh-out-loud parts and audience participation parts and parts where you just nodded your head or sat and thought. He did a great job.
The show ended with all of us doing the Arkansas Razorbacks cheer: Woo Pig Sooie! Fun!
Here’s a write-up of the show to read if you’re interested. It was a really neat experience, both because of Matt Besser’s performance and because of the tiny venue we saw it happen in.
If you’re now saying, “What’s The Upright Citizen’s Brigade?” I guess I have to say that you should just stop reading this post now and go check out the DVD. UCB is scathingly honest, completely ridiculous sketch comedy that makes me laugh, gasp, and fidget in my seat, sometimes all in one scene.
We got to the venue about 40 minutes before the show. With time to kill, we went over to Tabouli’s for a quick bite to eat. I was surprised to find pretty good Middle Eastern food at a restaurant I had never heard of. Nashville’s best kept secret? I must explore that part of town more.
We rushed through dinner to get back in time for the show, only to find that the show had sold out. The woman who seemed to be in charge said that they might do a second show, so we put our names on the waiting list and decided to walk around the surrounding neighborhoods while we waited.
We found the Belmont area charming. We had never been in this area before and really enjoyed walking and looking at houses and yards and the people out and about.
Lucky for us, there was a second show and we got in (how awesome is it that Matt Besser stayed to do two shows back to back?!). When we got up to the After Hours Theatre area, we realized why the first show had sold out so quickly . . . the venue only seats about 35 people! Very intimate!
Matt covered a range of topics during his hour-long show: religion, politics, social pressures, etc. He read letters from his grandmother to his mom that were disturbing and shocking. I could relate to a lot of things he talked about, and I found his somewhat random jumping-from-one-topic-to-another style familiar and conversational. There were sad parts and laugh-out-loud parts and audience participation parts and parts where you just nodded your head or sat and thought. He did a great job.
The show ended with all of us doing the Arkansas Razorbacks cheer: Woo Pig Sooie! Fun!
Here’s a write-up of the show to read if you’re interested. It was a really neat experience, both because of Matt Besser’s performance and because of the tiny venue we saw it happen in.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Boots and Pack
We’ve been doing quite a bit of hiking in the state parks around Tennessee, trying to enjoy the nice weather and be more active overall, and today we decided to splurge as an anniversary present to ourselves and buy hiking boots and a water backpack.
We went to REI in Brentwood and each bought a pair of Vasque hiking boots on sale (woo-hoo) and picked up a Camelback Rim Runner, too. It holds 100 ounces of water, which just about gets us through a four-hour hike if neither of us are water piggies.
Of course, we had to go and try out our new boots immediately, so we headed over to Edwin Warner Park to hike the blue trail. With our new boots, we felt much more stable on rocky areas and on mud. We also found the padded socks we bought very comfy and cozy to walk in. Best of all, we totally look like real hikers now! So outdoorsy!
Since buying our gear, we have had an opportunity to use it four or fives times so far. We really like everything we bought and are so glad we got it. Hike on!
We went to REI in Brentwood and each bought a pair of Vasque hiking boots on sale (woo-hoo) and picked up a Camelback Rim Runner, too. It holds 100 ounces of water, which just about gets us through a four-hour hike if neither of us are water piggies.
Of course, we had to go and try out our new boots immediately, so we headed over to Edwin Warner Park to hike the blue trail. With our new boots, we felt much more stable on rocky areas and on mud. We also found the padded socks we bought very comfy and cozy to walk in. Best of all, we totally look like real hikers now! So outdoorsy!
Since buying our gear, we have had an opportunity to use it four or fives times so far. We really like everything we bought and are so glad we got it. Hike on!
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