Friday, August 31, 2018
Takeaways from day seven of the Paul Manafort trial
Alexandria, Virginia (CNN)On the seventh day of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's criminal trial, the prosecution wasn't ready to rest. Instead, the super-lobbyist's longtime right-hand man abided about a final hour of questioning, capping his three days in the courtroom. And after Rick Gates finished giving his close-up angle on Manafort's financial doings, the prosecution zoomed out to put the financial charges all into context.
1. Gates fireworks had a grand finale
2. The big picture
3. With big numbers
Track the latest developments in the trials of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.4. Passing the baton
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Thursday, August 30, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
News Corp worldwide reports $1.4bn net loss, but paid subscriptions rise
Chief executive Robert Thomson highlights growth at UK mastheads Times and Sunday Times, and Australian digital subscriptions rise 12%
Rupert Murdochs News Corp has shrugged off its latest annual loss with an upbeat assessment of its digital news and real estate assets.
The worldwide publishing group reported a net loss of US$1.4bn for 2017/18, which was worse than the previous years US$643m.
But the result was skewed by accounting writedowns, including US$998m for the consolidation of Foxtel and Fox Sports in Australia.
Robert Thomson, the chief executive, said the group had gone through a year of operational and transformational success and pointed to revenue growth in its online real estate businesses such as realestate.com and its book publishing division led by Harper Collins.
We also saw meaningful operational improvements at the news and information services segment led by higher digital paid subscribers and disciplined cost initiatives, notably in Australia, he said in a statement on Friday.
He highlighted the growth of digital paid subscribers at UK mastheads such as the Times and the Sunday Times, and hailed strong growth at the Wall Street Journal. He did not mention the groups titles in Australia, such as the Australian and the Herald Sun had performed, but the earnings report to the stock market said that digital subscriptions in Australia had increased to 415,600 compared from 363,600 in the year prior.
Revenue from the group totalled US$9.01bn, up 11%, while earnings before interest tax and depreciation hit US$1.07bn, up 21%.
Digital real estate services continues to flourish, Thomson said, pointing to a 19% rise in revenue for the last quarter helped by a strong showing in the Australian business, REA Group.
HarperCollins success underscores the importance of intelligent editors and great writers in creating premium content. Algorithms are, as yet, unable to write empathetic, compelling books.
Five years ago News Corp underwent a restructure that saw its entertainment assets spun off into a separate company from its publishing businesses, including Harper Collins.
We are marking five years since our separation and are confident News Corp has a lustrous future, built on a strong digital and global foundation, said Thomson.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Cop uses Taser on 11-year-old girl accused of shoplifting at grocery store
(CNN)Cincinnati's mayor and other city officials are criticizing the actions of an off-duty officer who used a stun gun on an 11-year-old girl suspected of theft at a grocery store.
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Fitbit stock jumps as smartwatches fuel growth
Fitbit’s stock price jumped in after-hours trading and is currently trading around $6.00 a share, off its 52-week intraday high of $7.79.
The company today announced its latest quarterly numbers, which saw the average selling price of its wearables increase 6 percent year-over-year to $106 a device. New devices introduced within the last year represented 59 percent of the company’s revenue.
Smartwatches were a high-point for Fitbit this quarter. The company stated that its higher-priced smartwatch wearables outsold Samsung, Garmin and Fossil smartwatches combined in North America. Smartwatch revenue grew to 55 percent of revenue, up from 30 percent on a sequential basis.
“Our performance in Q2 represents the sixth consecutive quarter that we have delivered on our financial commitments, made important progress in transforming our business, and continued to adapt to the changing wearables market. Demand for Versa, our first ‘mass-appeal’ smartwatch, is very strong. Within the second quarter, Versa outsold Samsung, Garmin and Fossil smartwatches combined in North America, improving our position with retailers, solidifying shelf space for the Fitbit brand and providing a halo effect to our other product offerings,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO.
Fitbit’s stock price rallied earlier this summer, hitting 7.79 — its highest selling price since early 2017. The stock has been slipping since, though this quarterly release could cause the price to jump again.
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Fitbit stock jumps as smartwatches fuel growth was originally posted by AllAbout NEwsBolg - Feed
Facebook taps banks, but for chatbots not purchase data like Google
Backlash swelled this morning after Facebook’s aspirations in financial services were blown out of proportion by a Wall Street Journal report that neglected how the social network already works with banks. Facebook spokesperson Elisabeth Diana tells TechCrunch it’s not asking for credit card transaction data from banks and it’s not interested in building a dedicated banking feature where you could interact with your accounts. It also says its work with banks isn’t to gather data to power ad targeting, or even personalize content such as which Marketplace products you see based on what you buy elsewhere.
Instead, Facebook already lets Citibank customers in Singapore connect their accounts so they can ping their bank’s Messenger chatbot to check their balance, report fraud or get customer service’s help if they’re locked out of their account without having to wait on hold on the phone. That chatbot integration, which has no humans on the other end to limit privacy risks, was announced last year and launched this March. Facebook works with PayPal in more than 40 countries to let users get receipts via Messenger for their purchases.
Expansions of these partnerships to more financial services providers could boost usage of Messenger by increasing its convenience — and make it more of a centralized utility akin to China’s WeChat. But Facebook’s relationships with banks in the current form aren’t likely to produce a steep change in ad targeting power that warrants significant heightening of its earning expectations. The reality of today’s news is out of step with the 3.5 percent share price climb triggered by the WSJ’s report.
“A recent Wall Street Journal story implies incorrectly that we are actively asking financial services companies for financial transaction data – this is not true. Like many online companies with commerce businesses, we partner with banks and credit card companies to offer services like customer chat or account management. Account linking enables people to receive real-time updates in Facebook Messenger where people can keep track of their transaction data like account balances, receipts, and shipping updates,” Diana told TechCrunch. “The idea is that messaging with a bank can be better than waiting on hold over the phone – and it’s completely opt-in. We’re not using this information beyond enabling these types of experiences – not for advertising or anything else. A critical part of these partnerships is keeping people’s information safe and secure.”
Diana says banks and credit card companies have also approached it about potential partnerships, not just the other way around as the WSJ reports. She says any features that come from those talks would be opt-in, rather than happening behind users’ backs. The spokesperson stressed these integrations would only be built if they could be privacy safe. For example, signing up to use the Citibank Messenger chatbot requires two-factor authentication through your phone.
But renewed interest in Facebook’s dealings with banks comes at a time when many are pointing to its poor track record with privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where people were duped into volunteering the personal info of them and their friends. Facebook hasn’t had a big traditional data breach where data was outright stolen, as has befallen LinkedIn, eBay, Yahoo [part of TechCrunch’s parent company] and others. But users are rightfully reluctant to see Facebook ingest any more of their sensitive data for fear it could leak or be misused.
Facebook has recently cracked down on the use of data brokers that suck in public and purchased data sets for ad targeting. It no longer lets data brokers upload Managed Custom Audience lists of user contact info or power Partner Categories for targeting ads based on interests. It also more adamantly demands that advertisers have the consent of users whose email addresses or phone numbers they upload for Custom Audience targeting, though Facebook does little to verify that consent and advertisers could still buy data sets from brokers and upload them themselves
Facebook’s statement today shows more scruples than Google, which last year struck ad measurement data deals with data brokers that have access to 70 percent of credit and debit card transactions in the U.S. That led to a formal complaint to the FTC from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. [Correction: Google tells us the deals are for ad measurement data, not ad targeting as we originally published. It only learns the annonymous aggregate purchase value, not what the items were bought, and the data is encrypted.]
Cambridge Analytica has brought on an overdue era of scrutiny regarding privacy and how internet giants use our data. Practices that were overlooked, accepted as industry standard or seen as just the way business gets done are coming under fire. Internet users aren’t likely to escape ads, and some would rather have those they see be relevant thanks to deep targeting data. But the combination of our offline purchase behavior with our online identities seems to trigger uproar absent from sites using cookies to track our web browsing and buying.
Facebook’s probably better off backing away from anything that involves sensitive data like checking account balances until Cambridge Analytica blows over and it’s proven its newfound sense of responsibility translates into a safer social networking. But at least for now, it’s not slurping up our banking data wholesale.
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There’s a reason most millennials can’t afford to buy a house. And it’s not avocado toast.
There's no doubt that millennials are one of the most talked about generations.
But millennials are also one of the most misunderstood. They are often mischaracterized as "lazy, entitled, and narcissistic." They are accused of killing a whole ton of industries ranging from diamonds to beer. The list goes on and on.
But one of the most bothersome misconceptions about millennials is about the alleged reasons they can't afford to buy homes.
For instance, on July 26, the "Today Show" featured a study asserting that millennials can't afford to buy homes because they're spending too much on bachelor parties. The study, sponsored by real estate site Zillow, reported that attending "nine destinations bachelorette parties in your life time" could rack up a hefty sum of approximately $13,788.
Photo via iStock.
"In other words, you could spend up to 35% of a down payment on a median-price home (in certain areas of the country) celebrating a friend’s nuptials," reported "Today."
But here's the thing: The study doesn't mention how many millennials are jetting off to destination bachelor parties. Not all millennials are attending or can even afford their friends' destination nuptials or pre-nuptial festivities. In fact, a lot of millennials are choosing to stay unmarried.
"Studies" like this come up with a lot of obscure rationales for why millennials can't afford homes, but they're not painting the full picture.
It's not just bachelor parties getting the blame for millennials' financial woes. Some reports and pundits claim millennials spend too much on avocado toasts and coffee rather than saving up for a down payment for a home.
But there's one thing all these studies seem to leave out: Most millennials can't afford to buy homes because of massive college debt.
In the United States, approximately 45 million people have student loan debt. Americans owe more than $1.2 trillion in student loans with the average debt amount being $30,000. Millennials make up most of these borrowers, with 63% claiming to have more than $10,000 in outstanding college debt.
lol student loan debt in the US has reached another “all time high” of $1.5 trillion
student loan debt out-stands auto loan debt and credit card debt
and women hold two-thirds of all student debt in the US
why do I live here lol 🤷🏼♀️
— Shannon Ⓥ 🕊 (@Shan_Mixhelle) July 28, 2018
It's no secret that paying back student loans can take up huge chunk of a person's monthly income. In addition to high interest rates and potentially negative effects on credit scores associated with student loans, millennials are earning less and struggling to find jobs compared with previous generations. It's no surprise that saving for a down payment for a house is nearly impossible for many millennials.
The effects are probably more widespread than people think. According to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of millennials blame student loans for not being able to purchase a house. About 52% of millennials also can't qualify for a mortgage due to their debt-to-income ratio, Marketwatch reported.
But skipping college — and the debt it often comes with — doesn't seem to make purchasing a home any easier. Millennials without college degrees have a harder time finding employment than those who do, which in turn means it'll be more difficult for them to save for a down payment or qualify for a mortgage.
Photo via iStock.
But — not all hope is lost for aspiring millennial homebuyers.
It's not impossible for millennials carrying student loan debt to afford a house. There are some steps that can help:
- Benefits packages for some employees might include student repayment assistance. Some companies are helping their employees by paying off a certain percentage or sum of their workers' college debt.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a federal program, sounds just like what it's called: The government will provide student loan forgiveness for direct loans if the borrower takes a career in certain government, public service, or nonprofit organizations, and has made 120 monthly payments.
- To reduce debt-to-income ratio, look into lowering the monthly payments or refinancing student loans with a private lender. Borrowers who have already graduated and maintain a steady income might qualify to refinance that loan for a lower interest rate.
All generations can agree: The student loan crisis needs to be addressed.
The student debt burden has rapidly grown for years, and with the present system unchanged, there are no signs of that stopping. Making matters worse, the current administration has proposed cuts to programs that would help borrowers suffering from steep college debt. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has proposed to cut $13 million from a program that provides loan forgiveness for defrauded students.
For the cost of the GOP’s tax bill, we could forgive ALL the student loan debt in the United States.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) May 15, 2018
The best way to tackle the ever-growing student loan bubble is to address it head on. Stand behind candidates that propose student loan forgiveness, urge local representatives to propose free tuition programs, and call your congressional representatives to come up with legislation to regulate and reign in college debt.
We can no longer afford a generation to be ridden with debt. It's time to take action now.
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The oldest – new list building method you didnt know
A lot has changed in list-building and email marketing in the last 2 years.
It’s not so easy to get signups anymore.
You just can’t slap together a lame bonus, put up a squeeze page and bring in leads.
No, that doesn’t work, and that’s the cause of failure for so many new people.
They are being taught the tactics of 2009, when the market has already moved on ahead so far. The top marketers in the trade are employing something entirely different to grab their leads.
This is Leads2list, a unique web based software that lets you grab leads from Facebook and feeds them direct to your autoresponders.
Yes, you can mail them right away.
- Connect your Facebook pages to Leads2list and grab all your leadgen ads
- Connect to your favorite autoresponder (we support all popular ones)
- Anyone who signs up is added straight into your autoresponder list.
Once you turn it on, it needn’t be maintained again till you want to change anything.
The reason why only big marketers have been able to use them so far is because it’s not easy to get the leads into an autoresponder.
You either got to do the coding yourself, or pay monthly for a software that will do this for you. Both methods are expensive!
Not anymore.
Leads2List makes it really easy to grab your leads for a one-time cost.
Yes, just connect it to your Facebook page and it will automatically send all the people who sign up, straight to your autoresponder.
What’s more! It even comes with free training that shows you exactly how to set up effective lead-gen ads.
With it, you’re going to be able to scale up your business the same way the bigshots do.
Go check out the demo and get the leadgen method that’s secret of big marketers everywhere.
Yes, Facebook leadgen ads are ultra powerful.
People can sign up to your list by just clicking one button
- People see your ad, they click it, and they will be signed up into your autoresponder.
- No one needs to fill their Email ID.
- People are taken to your landing page AFTER sign up not BEFORE.
So even before you get them to a landing page you’ve already got them in your list.
Imagine how big a boost this will give to your list building?
How many more signups can you get? 200%? 350%?
That’s going to make you profitable if you aren’t profitable yet, and if you’re already profitable, it’s time to boost your profits
See it in action here
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Tesla lost nearly $8 billion in shareholder value this week and its board should be ashamed
Over the last five days, Tesla shareholders watched the value of their stock decline by roughly 16 percent and saw nearly $8 billion in value erased, as the company’s celebrity chief executive, Elon Musk, had what amounts to a very public breakdown.
However, Musk is not the only person responsible for the collapse of Tesla’s stock price. As The New York Times article which precipitated the latest slide in Tesla’s value on the public markets makes clear, the company’s board is also to blame.
For months, Musk has been showing signs of strain (generously speaking), and has been accused of making questionable decisions to drive growth and stifle criticism or dissent at the revolutionary electric vehicle company he founded.
During that time, as Shira Ovide notes in her piece from Bloomberg, Tesla’s board (primarily composed of Musk’s friends, relatives and initial investors) took no public steps to control or manage the situation.
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Tesla lost nearly $8 billion in shareholder value this week and its board should be ashamed was originally posted by AllAbout NEwsBolg - Feed
Monday, August 27, 2018
WhatsApp finally earns money by charging businesses for slow replies
Today WhatsApp launches its first revenue-generating enterprise product and the only way it currently makes money directly from its app. The WhatsApp Business API is launching to let businesses respond to messages from users for free for up to 24 hours, but will charge them a fixed rate by country per message sent after that.
Businesses will still only be able to message people who contacted them first, but the API will help them programatically send shipping confirmations, appointment reminders or event tickets. Clients also can use it to manually respond to customer service inquiries through their own tool or apps like Zendesk, MessageBird or Twilio. And small businesses that are one of the 3 million users of the WhatsApp For Business app can still use it to send late replies one-by-one for free.
After getting acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, it’s finally time for the 1.5 billion-user WhatsApp to pull its weight and contribute some revenue. If Facebook can pitch the WhatsApp Business API as a cheaper alternative to customer service call centers, the convenience of asynchronous chat could compel users to message companies instead of phoning.
Only charging for slow replies after 24 hours since a user’s last message is a genius way to create a growth feedback loop. If users get quick answers via WhatsApp, they’ll prefer it to other channels. Once businesses and their customers get addicted to it, WhatsApp could eventually charge for all replies or any that exceed a volume threshold, or cut down the free window. Meanwhile, businesses might be too optimistic about their response times and end up paying more often than they expect, especially when messages come in on weekends or holidays.
WhatsApp first announced it would eventually charge for enterprise service last September when it launched its free WhatsApp For Business app that now has 3 million users and remains free for all replies, even late ones.
Importantly, WhatsApp stresses that all messaging between users and businesses, even through the API, will be end-to-end encrypted. That contrasts with The Washington Post’s report that Facebook pushing to weaken encryption for WhatsApp For Business messages is partly what drove former CEO Jan Koum to quit WhatsApp and Facebook’s board in April. His co-founder, Brian Acton, had ditched Facebook back in September and donated $50 million to the foundation of encrypted messaging app Signal.
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Can Apple pip others to be first with trillion dollar valuation?
Its only a matter of time before the milestone is reached, but investors are advised against complacency over the tech firms
Will it or wont it? The question dominating Wall Street all week has been whether Apple will become the first company with a stock market valuation of a trillion dollars. For that to happen the tech companys shares need to reach $203.25 and they were tantalisingly close to that level in early trading in New York on Wednesday, the first real opportunity investors had to buy Apple stock after the announcement of better-than-expected third-quarter figures.
It seems only a matter of time before the milestone is reached, but whether that marks the start of a new bull-market phase for equities or a storm warning is a moot point.
As Russ Mould, investment director of the Manchester-based firm AJ Bell has pointed out, in the past unusually high market capitalisations for Americas biggest companies have tended to be a sign of trouble to come.
Take the late 1990s for example. Stocks, particularly new technology stocks, soared in value as the US economy boomed so that by the end of 1999 the top five companies by market capitalisation Microsoft, General Electric, Cisco, Walmart and Intel were together worth just over $2tn or 15.5% of US GDP.
But that was the top of the market and anybody who held on to shares in those companies suffered a heavy financial loss over the next decade; 10 years later all were worth less than in 1999 with a combined loss of almost 50%.
Apple is one of the quintet of so-called FAANG stocks, comprising Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Alphabet (the holding company for Google). Between them they have a market value of just over $3.3tn or 18.5% of US GDP.
Mould says that the current echo of the late 1990s does not mean there is going to be a stock-market wipeout. It is, though, worth considering whether the recent fall in Netflix and Facebook shares are more than simply a blip.
It is also worth noting that Apples growth now relies on selling software services because sales growth for phones, tablets and laptops has been underwhelming. Moulds message to investors is not to be complacent about Apple, the FAANGs or the wider broader market. Thats sound advice.
Bleak times for House of Fraser
The better weather might have encouraged shoppers to head off to the high street but it all looks too little too late for House of Fraser.
Things are looking bleak for the troubled department store chain. It has big debts, has been starved of investment by successive owners and has a poor online offering at a time when cash-conscious consumers are increasingly shopping from home.
House of Fraser desperately needs cash to pay its quarterly rent bill next month and to buy stock for Christmas, the most profitable time of year for retailers. HoFs only real hope of survival was a cash injection from the owners of Hamleys C.banner but the Hong Kong-listed company has now pulled out of a rescue deal.
HoF says it is talking to lenders and exploring options with other potential investors, who include Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct. But, in truth, it is hard to see why a white knight should ride to the rescue. There are stores that Ashley might want, but there is no real incentive to buy them now when he can pick them up in a fire sale after HoF collapses. As things stand, he wont have to wait long.
Trump will see tit-for-tat
Just as was the case a 104 years ago the world is slipping inexorably and steadily towards a great power conflict. It is not too late to avert a global trade war but the signs are not good.
After his rapprochement with the EU last week, Donald Trump is again threatening to get tough with China, with reports that the White House is planning to raise its threatened tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%.
China has no wish to get sucked into a trade war but neither will it turn the other cheek. It will retaliate with tit-for-tat action of its own.
The lessons of 1914 are clear. Politicians can quickly lose control of events. It is easier to start a war than it is to stop one. Hopes of a knockout blow will not be realised. A long war of attrition is likely and there will be heavy casualties on both sides. Stock markets will be affected first; the real economy will suffer later.
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Sunday, August 26, 2018
Venezuela issues new currency, amid hyperinflation and social turmoil
(CNN)Venezuela issued a new currency Monday in an attempt to bolster its crumbling economy as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that inflation could hit one million percent this year.
'Magic formula'
Once land of opportunity
'Largest mass-population movements'
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Venezuela issues new currency, amid hyperinflation and social turmoil was originally posted by AllAbout NEwsBolg - Feed
Saturday, August 25, 2018
What’s Wrong With Beyonc’s Face?
This was a bad makeup job, right???
This and much more on our latest podcast! Listen to The Perez Hilton Podcast with Chris Booker on iTunes or directly at http://PerezPodcast.com
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Friday, August 24, 2018
No-deal Brexit: Britons in EU could lose access to UK bank accounts
Warning comes in government technical notices telling businesses and public how to prepare in event of no deal
Consumers would face slower and more costly credit card payments when they buy EU products, and British citizens living abroad could lose access to payments from their bank accounts, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the government has warned.
The Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, insisted he was confident that a good deal is in our sights as he launched 24 technical notices in Westminster on Thursday morning, telling businesses and the public how to prepare if no deal was reached.
He said the governments priority was to ensure continuity but the 24 technical notices the first batch of more than 80 due over the summer underline the potential impact on daily life if Britain leaves without a deal in place next March.
With UK banks likely to lose access to EU payments systems, the financial services paper warns: Customers (including business using these providers to process euro payments) could face increased costs and slower processing times for euro transactions. The cost of card payments between the UK and EU will likely increase.
Customers of UK banks living in the EU may lose the ability to access lending and deposit services, and insurance contracts, the paper says.
Businesses are warned that if the UK leaves without a deal, the free circulation of goods between the UK and EU would cease.
Firms would need to fill out customs declarations for goods entering the UK from the EU and should think about whether they should engage the services of a customs broker, freight forwarder or logistics provider to help, or alternatively secure the appropriate software and authorisations.
The technical notices make clear Britain expects the EU to start imposing tariffs on UK goods in the event of no deal.
Businesses should if necessary, put steps in place to renegotiate commercial terms to reflect any changes in customs and excise procedures, and any tariffs that may apply to UK-EU trade, the notice on trading says.
In other areas, the notices strike a more reassuring note, pointing out that existing regulationscovering areas ranging from workers rights to the export of dangerous products are due to be transposed into UK law under the EU Withdrawal Act.
With the contentious issue of the Northern Ireland backstop still unresolved between the UK and EU27, businesses trading across the border are advised that they may need to consult the Dublin government.
The UK would stand ready to engage constructively to meet our commitments and act in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland, recognising the very significant challenges that the lack of a UK-EU legal agreement would pose in this unique and highly sensitive context. This would include engagement on arrangements for land border trade. We will provide more information in due course, the technical notice on trading explains. If you trade across the land border, you should consider whether you will need advice from the Irish government about preparations you need to make.
Raab claimed the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK was 80% complete and pledged to step up the pace of talks with Brussels.
Asked directly about the risks to British citizens living abroad, he said he hoped cooler heads would prevail and allow practical cooperation over issues such as access to pensions. Its hardly in the interests of southern Spain to do harm to the British pensioners living out there, he said.
He said that after the passing of the EU Withdrawal Act, and with 7,000 civil servants already working on Brexit and funding in place to hire 9,000 more if needed, our laws will be on the statute book, the staff will be in place, and our institutions will be ready for Brexit, deal or no deal.
The new Brexit secretary, who campaigned vociferously for leave in the 2016 referendum, sought to play down recent alarming stories about the potential risks of no deal including the idea that food supplies could be disrupted or key ingredients no longer available. You will still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit, and there are no plans to deploy the army to ensure food supplies.
On the EU rules that limit taxpayer bailouts, the government said it would create a new UK-wide subsidy control framework overseen by Britains Competition and Markets Authority.
Underlining the reach of the EU in all aspects of regulation, the notices say that Britain would have to introduce new health warnings on cigarette packets, as the copyright for the existing picture library is owned by the European commission.
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Thursday, August 23, 2018
American billionaire Stan Kroenke makes $777m offer for 100% ownership of Arsenal
(CNN)The takeover battle for English Premier League side Arsenal between American and Russian billionaires could be about to end.
Supporters' Trust 'wholly against takeover'
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American billionaire Stan Kroenke makes $777m offer for 100% ownership of Arsenal was originally posted by AllAbout NEwsBolg - Feed
20+ Times Bosses Did Something So Stupid It Instantly Made Their Workers Quit Or Lose Will To Work
If you have seen the movie 'Horrible Bosses' you know there is only so much an employee is willing to endure from a bad employer. Sure, most people aren't resorting to murder plots, but they will walk out of the door.
For those of you who don't know the pain of bad management, consider yourself extremely lucky, because it is an experience almost all of us go through at least once. The moments where you sit and think, "I don't get paid enough to put up with this shit." It's so common in fact there is even a Reddit thread asking the question "What's something your employer did that instantly killed employee morale?"
Perhaps you've had the boss who made fake wage and promotion promises only to screw everyone over or the boss who destroyed and source of workplace morale (come on let the people have their snacks!). Well the people in the stories below know exactly how you feel, some even decided enough was enough and quit. Scroll down below for some outrageous boss horror stories and don't forget to upvote your favs!
#1
My wife was let go after she announced her pregnancy to her manager, and approximately when she would need maternity leave. She was told that they'd rather replace her than deal with a pregnant employee and all that goes with that.
A well worded letter from out attorney got her one year's severance, and two years medical coverage for her and the baby.
#2
Banned smart phones in the break room to force us to talk to one another and build camaraderie.
Ends up we didn't like each other that much.
#3
A manager once explained it to me...."everything needs to be organized, labeled, and free of clutter. That way if you're replaced the next person can take over without missing a step."
She was replaced the next day. The irony wasn't lost on me.
#4
I work in a very quiet dull office with no vending machines or drink machines. We have a water cooler and the branch manager's old coffee maker from the 90's as the coffee for the entire office (30+ people).
My friend and coworker "Sue" took it upon herself to stock a filing cabinet with treats for when people forgot breakfast or lunch. Sue did this on her own money and included items such as oatmeal, nuts, crackers, soups, all great stuff. She just asked you put a quarter in a cup when you took something. Remember, we have no vending machine. To buy food you'd have to drive to buy it as we're in the suburbs.
Our branch manager decided that too many people were distracted by going to her filing cabinet and getting snacks so he told her to remove all of it. We still do not have a vending machine.
:'(
#5
Boss Pitched a sales incentive trip to Cancun if the team hit the goal. My team exceeded the goal, and then they cancelled the trip. 2 people quit, I accepted a position with their main competitor, and less than a year later, they closed in bankruptcy. Karmas a beach.
#6
New principal came in. It was like he forgot what being a teacher is like... he made us sub constantly on our plan periods instead of getting around to calling a sub. If we weren't subbing, he would come into our rooms as we worked on plan time things and go over ridiculous things that could have better been sent in an email. He fired the lunch supervisor and made us supervise lunch. Then he started giving us a hard time about using the bathroom between classes because if we were in the bathroom, who is supervising the halls?
It boiled down to us working before and past contract hours with zero breaks. No bathroom. No lunch time (you can't eat and supervise). I went off on him one day because he accosted me for going to the bathroom. I went to the bathroom to change my tampon. I waved a spare tampon around in the hallway in front of God and students and told him I'd had enough of this and if he had time to drive to McDonalds for lunch (he had a fry box in his hands) I could be spared two minutes of supervision to change a tampon.
To add insult to injury, the staff banded together and we documented these things to get him fired. The next person comes in and decides that action of creating unity with the staff needed to be dismantled so she changed where all our rooms were and in most cases what we taught (regardless of our certification). I quit. I couldn't take it anymore. Kids are my number one in teaching and when a school dissolves into politics and bull sh*t nonsense it just isn't worth it to me. I could get treated like sh*t in any profession and probably get paid more.
#7
Small business. 20 employees +/-. Boss made a big speech about austerity measures and no raises this year. A week and a half later he drives up in a brand new Silverado with all the bells and whistles. Expensed to the business of course. He would hate to have to pay taxes on those profits. One of the less subtle members of the staff took a literal sh*t in front of his office door.
#8
I worked at a family owned market that was well known and loved by locals. The owners were a lovely couple that took care of their employees and would bend over backwards for their customers. They were very active in the community and highly respected. They had a few core employees and would hire on temp staff during the summer and holidays. The temps were mostly highschoolers and college kids that were home on break. They would bring back the same people as long as they could and the kids would try to stay as long as they could. The pay was well above market for those positions, we could shop the and get a 75% discount, after six months you got two weeks paid vacation, and the owners would close the store a couple days a year and host a party for all of the employees. It was the best job any highschooler in the area could get. I lived right next to the store and my parents were friends with the owners so I was given a job there. All my friends were jealous.
After working there for a few years, the couple decided they wanted to retire to spend time with their daughter and her children in another state. Many tears were shed and they had a huge retirement party where they introduced their son to everyone and told us he was taking over. They gushed about his prestigious business education and background.
As soon as they were gone, the son decided he was going to remake the store in his image. He fired basically all the staff, most of whom that had been there for 10 to 15+ years. He then staffed the whole place with homeschool kids and junkies. He cut the discounts and vacations. He hired some old highschool friends to manage the place so he could take the profits to go party and get coked out.
The shop went from having the same staff for years to having to retrain an entirely new staff every other month. No one wanted to stay. Managers were reporting perfectly good product as damaged and taking it home. Shelves sat empty. Locals stopped shopping there. The place became a corpse of what it had been. The original owners had enough of their friends complain to them about their son that they came back for a short time and tried to make it right, but it was too late. Their original staff had all moved on and vendors had stopped doing business with the store. They decided to close the store, sell the property, and move away permanently. Last I heard, the son was in trouble with the IRS and his wife divorced him when she found him banging a stripper.
#9
During the 2016 election cycle my boss told us if we didn’t vote for (a particular candidate) we would be fired. I’m still lying about how I filled out that ballot. It’s not that I didn’t already know the kind of person she is but it reaffirmed my belief that the biggest danger I personally face is the forceful nature of extremists.
PS - It doesn’t matter what side she or I was on. Threatening someone’s livelihood over personal beliefs is appalling.
#10
Former teacher. The administrators at my school were usually pretty chill, but had a habit of randomly coming up with minor rules that they would enforce for us (male teachers had to wear ties even on jeans day, etc.). Overall it wasn't bad, except for the time an administrator made a crucial mistake... they banned staff from drinking coffee in front of students.
Now if you've never worked in a school, you'd think this isn't a big deal. When you spend nearly 100% of your day in front of students, it definitely is a big deal.
First we tried to find any loophole we could. Energy drinks? Banned the next week. Tea? Banned two days later. It was chaos.
Eventually, we realized they couldn't fire an entire school's worth of teachers and aides, so we ended up doing the one thing that private schools fear most: we formed a union.
Realistically, it was more of a weird pseudo-union focused specifically on civil disobedience regarding the coffee issue, but it ruffled feathers nonetheless. The administrators caved to our "demands", allowed us to drink coffee again, and even bought each of us a reusable coffee mug as a gesture of goodwill.
And that's the story of how a handful of school administrators almost accidentally created a teachers union over a complete non-issue.
Fired the girl who was in her third trimester of pregnancy three days before her maternity leave was to start.
#12
I was one of a large number of programmers working on a project at CSC. We had a deadline coming up in a couple months and they over-promised to the client and then asked us all to work extra hard to meet the deadline, and asked us to work 50+ hour weeks. Which we did - and then some: some of us put in 70-80 hour weeks to meet this deadline.
But once that deadline was met, suddenly there was another deadline they needed to meet. And another. People got tired, had lives to lead, and scaled back on their hours. Most of us were still working 50-60 hours a week, but not a lot more than that.
Once they realised we weren't killing ourselves on their project any longer, there was an All Hands meeting where the managers told us that they were incredibly disappointed in our lack of professionalism because so comparatively few employees were now working more than fifty hours a week.
One of our harder workers stood up and said, "Look, I have three kids. I'm driving an hour into and out of work every day, I'm taking care of my family, I'm trying to get presents for Christmas, write out Christmas cards, decorate and clean the house for everyone we're having over for the holidays - I'm having a really hard time just getting to fifty."
And the manager looked at her and sneered, "If it wasn't Christmas, it'd be because it's Easter, or Memorial Day, or because it's summer and it's nice out. You'd always have some excuse."
There was dead silence in the room.
When we left that meeting, we didn't talk to each other, but every single worker on that project put in exactly fifty hours a week after that.
Then came Christmas - raise and bonus time! Every worker on the project got a 1/2 percent raise; the managers got a five-figure bonus. We were pissed.
For management, the pain came after Christmas. First week off the year, four programmers had better jobs lined up and quit. Three more the following week. Five the next. We hemorrhaged 3-5 programmers every single week for over three months. It got to the point where the managers had to schedule a meeting every Monday at eleven to discuss that week's resignations and rearrange the surviving staff.
F*ck CSC
#13
She actively tried to ban friendships. If co-workers became friendly she would schedule them so they would NEVER see each other. "You're here to work! Not to socialise!"
She also banned everyone from coming into the workplace when they were not working.
It was a pub. She banned socialising in a pub.
She became insanely paranoid when she learned four people were in a WhatsApp group. She said the only reason people who work together set up group chats is because they wanted to talk trash about her. She was actually kind of right
#14
Company consisted of something like 1,200 employees at the time, and rented out a big conference center for a Christmas party. At the opening of the party, the CFO was giving opening remarks, and asked - expecting cheers - if everyone liked their Christmas bonuses.
He got booed.
See, of that 1,200 people, a bit over a thousand were in customer service. No one in customer service got bonuses, only people in the 'corporate' departments got bonuses. And our awesome CFO decided to rub everyone's noses in it, because clearly the Chief Financial Officer of a company would have no idea that 80%+ of his company didn't get bonuses.
At the same party, the CEO made an announcement that the company would be closed on friday (Christmas that year was on a Thursday), and everyone got a day off. Now, he had literally just finished making a speech about how everyone was important, and everyone was part of the company, no matter the department. He had shoveled sh*t hard, trying to make CS happier.
The next day, we all got a memo that Customer Service still had to work on that Friday. We apparently didn't count as 'everyone,' and the CEO just hadn't realized that the announcement wouldn't apply to anyone.
January saw a 60% attrition rate.
#15
One of our CAD drafters had to get brain surgery last year. He got through it with no issues and has been working since with the occasional doctor meeting. He's not necessarily the fastest worker, but he gets the job done and I haven't noticed a difference before and after.
Last week, during a meeting, our boss said to him, "...ever since your surgery you haven't been as capable, I can't trust this project to you." I have wanted to quit for a while, and this pushed me overboard.
#16
My boss is looking to retire in the next 3-4 years. He told everyone that he wanted us to come up our visions for the company and it's future over the next 5, 10, 20 years.
We're a small office of about a half dozen people but we've been growing and so everyone brought up growth projections and succession planning once he retires, etc.
His son is the heir apparent and has a precocious 8 year old so in my 20 year version I even included the grandson joining the business and grooming it to become a legacy company.
My boss went last and we were expecting something acknowledging some of our thoughts or at least an expression of appreciation that the company he founded would live on well past his retirement, be in good hands, etc.
Instead it was brutal and short. It was something along the lines of "I do everything around here anyway so I should just sell the company to fund my retirement and you can all find other companies to work for in a few years."
Mood killed. Meeting ended.
#17
Had a boss everyone loved, then she got transferred to another store and the new guy that replaced her decided the schedule that we'd all gotten used to needed to be "shaken up". He posted the next week schedule that was completely different than it had been under the previous manager, got a bunch of complaints from people saying they can't work x days or y times and it SEEMED he was receptive since he took that schedule down. Then suddenly BAM, he just reposted the same exact schedule and said f*ck everyone.
Oh, we had some people calling in sick from time to time under the old manager, but this new manager has pretty much half his crew every single day calling out because of his sh*tty tactics.
Here's the first thing to learn about being a good manager...you don't need to "shake things up" for people to be better workers. You don't need to "put your mark" on anything if it's working just fine the way it was.
#18
I work in a big corporate building. The same older lady came by everyone's desk towards the end of the day to collect the trash. Just the sweetest lady ever and every time she'd walk to my desk she'd give me a big smile and ask me how my day was and chat for a minute as she got my trash (usually I'd dump it in for her). I had some rough days but she has a way to cheer me up and send me home on a higher note. I know I'm not the only one either.
So then a few weeks back our work implemented a new policy to 'cut down on trash usage'. It's no longer allowed to have a trash bin at our desk and we have to walk across the room and use the community trash to throw anything away. Not a huge deal but the real reason they did it is so they can cut down on cost... ie the cleaning crew.
Sad to say that I haven't seen Sharon since.
#19
This school wanted to switch to Chromebooks. So what did they do? One summer while teachers weren't working, they removed every single Windows station and replaced them with Chromebooks to be issued to teachers. They were told to "figure it out".
When teachers came up and asked how they could teach Photoshop, programming, AutoCAD 3d modeling, etc., admin basically googled their program name plus "Chromebook extension" and told them "see? There's an extension for it and it works!" I don't think I have to add that it did not work.
They ended up bringing back the desktops for most teachers.
#20
Try working in IT. That attitude is just the standard state of being.
It's a job where if you work absolutely perfectly, you're totally invisible and only appear on the radar when something f*cks up.
Just a few weeks ago we did a major office move. My department worked back to back 12-18 hour days to get everything moved over, which we managed with less half a day's down time (and we were moving the company's main data center).
By the end of the final weekend after carrying 30+ servers (plus cabs) up four stories, re-cabling 200+ desks and literally moving trucks worth of gear I got home and my legs just wouldn't work any more. I still have the blisters on my feet from walking about 30 miles in two days...and I was still at my desk at 7am the next day to run around the office fixing teething issues.
Then, a few days ago the country chief got the whole office together to thank everyone for their hard work. He had a stack of envelopes with 'thank you' card £50 vouchers in them. Everyone who volunteered to help with the move got one...including the people who 'volunteered' to have an early snoop around the new office, spent 30 minutes on site and did precisely f*ck all.
You know who didn't get a mention, or an envelope? Anyone in IT. The people who were there working unpaid overtime until 2am for weeks.
They banned phones, electronics, puzzles, books, etc. from being used at your desk. I work at a call center. We were expected to just sit and wait for the next call to come in "distraction-free", even if it was a super slow day.
#22
I found keylogging spyware on my computer. My bosses had installed it and we're tracking/reading everything I did.
#23
Put up a poster that said "Complaining is like vomitting. You feel better but everyone around you feels sick.". The morale was already bad but it was just a sh*tty way to take a hit at upset employees rather than do anything positive.
#24
Business had been running for three years and many of the employees had been there from the beginning without getting a pay rise.
After some requests the company announced that there would be a review of everyone's pay. Called in each worker to discuss.
Basically they had decided to pay every employee the same amount. This meant that a few got a raise, most stayed the same, and some (who had negotiated better at hiring) had their wages reduced.
Needless to say most employees were unhappy.
Two weeks later the three brothers who owned the business bought themselves two new cars and a second hand Rolls Royce.
That was a real slap in the face.
#25
In a very short span of time, they changed everyone's 401K plan (for worse) and then implemented an office wide cleanliness policy. No eating at your desk. Only 3 personal items on your desk. Everything labeled. No items other than your keyboard, mouse, and monitors on your desk at the end of the day.
Talk about pissed off. You could feel the gloom when you walked in. Everyone's give-a-sh*tter broke at once.
#26
I worked for a small environmental consulting business a few years ago. We relied heavily on the work utes to function well so we could do our jobs (driving around rough terrain and such). The utes were old and tired, and broke down a lot. More than once I was stuck in the middle of nowhere trying to spontaneously learn to become a mechanic to get myself home. I understood it was a small business, and the boss was just trying to make ends meet and it didn't make sense for us to have all the latest and greatest equipment and vehicles, but when his wife drove into work one morning with a brand new BMW when our tools of trade were falling apart, that kinda killed it for me.
#27
held a super positive, pep rally style company wide meeting about how they were going to start combining our sick days with our vacation days and now just call them 'PTO.' This was presented to us as a great thing, since we could all now use our PTO days fully as vacation days if we wanted to. Once the system was implemented, everyone realized that instead of getting 10 vacation days and 10 sick days per year, we now all had 15 PTO days. Everyone was pissed.
#28
Told a bunch of people they were going to be promoted to get us to do extra work, no one got promoted. I basically did her job for a month. Me and three of my co-workers quit and she got fired a few months later.
#29
Was “told off†for not sitting straight forward enough at my desk as it looked like from afar I was tilted to the side slightly and managers would think I was talking to my colleagues next to me instead of waiting for the phone to ring. I’m 5ft 10, sitting forward at all times is uncomfortable I like to cross my legs..
We used to work as a team to make sure we had enough cover that allowed us to go on our 15 minute break with a colleague, this was banned and we had to go alone at all times even when there were 8-12 people covering on the phones and we haven’t had a call for 20 minutes.
Our “team†came 2nd in a award ceremony for customer service, this award was for excellent feed back in regards to the service our team provided on the phones and on site. The managers and supervisors are never on the phones and mainly do “reporting and auditing “ The managers and supervisors were all taken for an all expenses paid dinner, drinks and hotel stay to celebrate, this was kept a secret from the actual staff who had done the work! I only found out when I saw some pictures on a managers desk.
We were awarded with 6 pizzas to spilt between us..
#30
My department banned earbuds/ headphones. Now that we can hear how loud the rest of the office is, productivity AND morale have tanked.
Once upon a time I worked for a media investment group. One year we all got Christmas cards in the mail. Problem was, they weren't addressed to us by name, but by employee number.
Employee 273051
44 West Main Street
Corporatedeathville, US 11111
#32
While working at a sporting goods store, I had a supervisor offer me a managerial position. He talked it up by saying I'd have new responsibilities and tasks. That I'd be able to delegate jobs to other employees while I focused on my new work.
Me: "Cool...What's the pay?" Him: "Well, we wouldn't be able to give you a salary increase." Me: So I'd be doing a lot more with the same pay? Him: Yeah, you'd have more responsibilities! Me: "No."
#33
It was a one two punch.
The company wide meeting announced the promotion of several high level management and executives (mostly title and responsibility changes). Lots of smiles and handshakes, not unlike a college graduation ceremony.
After these promotion announcements, they declared that due to the stagnant economy and poor sales, the entire company would be experiencing a pay freeze as a result. So, no raises for anyone.
They then concluded the meeting by discontinuing "Casual Fridays." So, no more jeans on Friday.
It almost felt like it was designed to make people want to quit and leave. It worked though, I and many others moved on to greener pastures within the year.
#34
Old folks home kitchen. Maybe 20 staff members. Boss declared we were too happy and made a new set of rules:
° there was to be absolutely no talking, laughing or jokes. The kitchen was to be silent because we were "distracting ourselves from work"
°anyone working less then 9 or 10 hour shifts were forbidden bathroom breaks. Going to the bathroom on a shift with less then 9 or 10 hours was a fireable offense. Permitted Bathroom breaks could not be on the clock. Your lunch must be used to use the bathroom. Lunch breaks were 15 minutes long.
°any communication with management was seen as inappropriate. Staff and management were to be kept separate at all times. (A manager f*cked a staff member and it made a big deal. That's why this was made)
°you will not be paid overtime but will be expected to work. If you are to clock out by 8pm but are still needed you must clock out then return to work. Complaints to HR or labor board are fireable offenses. Yes people complained. Yes the place was investigated.
Ex boss was sued. Lost. Morale dropped. They have a hard time keeping employees now and from what I heard most of the new employees are high school students. Ex boss announced a sudden retirement for the end of the year and the kitchen will be taken over by all new people.
I jumped ship early on. Do NOT miss the place.
#35
In a company of 6 people, owner said in a meeting with everyone that his 2 sales guys are irreplaceable and that the rest of us are "just paper pushers
#36
I worked at a club in Miami and the owner was out of his f*cking mind (years of drug abuse).. when the housing market crashed obviously people were spending far less going out but he insisted we were all stealing. We had meetings once a week with all kinds of threats. Finally he put in an automatic pouring system for 50k+, it basically looks like you're pouring drinks from a soda gun, super boring. The fun vibe and flair we had was totally gone which made sales drop even more. He ripped the system out two weeks later.
#37
Large factory(Not Unionized). Each department clocks in at a different place, mainly that department's breakroom. My department clocked in across the facility from the main entrance, which meant it took about 15 minutes to walk from the front door to where you clocked in and out at, and another 5 to walk from that entrance to the parking lot. There was a side exit that we would use, however, that literally cut that walk down from 20 minutes to 3, since our department was right next to the parking lot.
Management decided that ALL employees must enter and exit through the SAME DOOR. Which meant we had to walk all the way down to the main entrance and then back around to our cars.
There was so much rebellion from the employees in our department that they had to bar the door shut with 2 x 4's. Jokes on them, even unionized employees can be a pain in the ass. We contacted the fire marshall, who upon seeing a fire exit barricaded, fined the company 8,000$
We still were not "allowed" to enter through this door, but they stopped trying to stop us.
#38
Installing solar for a really sketchy northern irish dude who turned out to be a local drug manufacturer. Boss ran away with £25000 of the clients money and left us on site completely unaware of what just happened, still on the roofs. We only found out about the clusterf*ck when said scary irish guy brings all his goons in to threaten us and our families unless we recovered the money, trapped us there for hours before we defused the situation.
#39
Firing half the staff for no reason other than to "clean house" when new management caused the other half to leave as well. You wouldn't think it possible for a hotel to go out of business in less than 2 months but lo and behold it did just that.
#40
Gave a regular customer a $2 discount off his usual order (he was moving & this would be his last time dinning there, this was the first time he's ever gotten a discount) My boss proceeds to flip out on me, said I was self-righteous, stealing from her, and I was "the reason her business was failing" and took the money out of my paycheck. Nobody used coupons/gave a discount for the next few days. They were all scared.
I grabbed my paycheck & put in my two weeks the day after.
My current job we had a kid out of a very prestigious Ivy League school. He was extremely bright but a complete asshole. He would talk back to managers and ask them where we went to school and say he could do their jobs in his sleep. He proceeded to tell HR after eight months that unless he could do only FP and A and pick his own schedule- he would quit. He also demanded to make 70k as a first year...
Management bought it. He works for the CFO now and while he is extremely bright this f*cker walks out of busy season coming in at 10 am leaving at 4. While we work 12 hour days- I like my company but that makes me mad. Eat a d*ck Brian
#42
I told the hiring manager that I was disappointed in one of his hires because he knew literally NOTHING about our job and asked him "doesn't that cheapen my knowledge and expertise?"
His response: "Well, let's be honest, you job doesn't really need all that, does it?"
There were four other people my level, with varying fields of expertise, at that meeting, and it got real quiet after that.
#43
To cut costs, they started a policy that only certain departments had internet access - it basically started a class system that bred resentment across departments, and caused an exodus from the non-internet teams.
#44
Sh*t like that kills me.
I was an engineering intern at a factory owned by a German company, but located in the US South. It happened to be the summer of the World Cup and US-Germany were playing on like a Thursday.
The factory had engineers, fabricators, and line workers. The engineers worked on long term timelines, but the fabricators and the line workers had weekly quotas. In general the line out performed quota (they were based on orders and the line could out pace the orders if needed). So normally the line reached the weekly quota by sometime late Thursday or early Friday.
The engineering interns brought up that we wanted to watch part of the game during our lunch break on the big projector in one of the conference rooms. The HR guy in charge of scheduling the room ran with the idea and ordered pizza for the entire factory to sit and watch the game.
Thursday comes and the line is on pace to finish quota that afternoon (so had Friday to work extra/cut off early). The whole factory staff shows up to watch the game, eat food, and relax for a bit. Morale is high as a bunch of East Tennessee folk are hooting and hollering over a soccer match of all things.
Out of nowhere the plant manager strolls by and says “I thought we were here to workâ€. Room was empty in about 100 seconds. The interns were all pissed and hid in the warehouse watching the second half on one of our phones. F*ck that guy
#45
Started firing people by lining two up at a time and seeing which one they prefer to keep on. Didn't matter if you were there for 20 years or 2. Also hiring management from outside and not promoting within which means the new managers have no knowledge of anything that company does in terms of ethics, procedures, or employee status. It has turned this 'clique' type environment into every person for themselves. Very toxic.
#46
Restructuring bonuses every month because employees were hitting the bonuses...despite the company making near a million in revenue a month.
#47
My company stopped giving bonuses, lowered the Christmas bonus and doesn't give raises. Yet somehow our company can afford to have TWO private jets, yet always talking about how broke we are.
#48
One of our senior employees asked for a raise because it had been a few years since he had had one and he was doing a great job. Management reviewed his file, realized they could pay one of the new guys half of the salary of experienced guy, fired senior guy, promoted junior dude. They weren't aware of the warehouse dynamic and soon found out that no one liked or wanted to work for or with junior guy, morale dropped a lot. A week later, senior guy committed suicide. Once the warehouse was informed/invited to the funeral, morale reaaalllly dropped and eventually junior guy became so ineffective trying to run the shop that he was fired and the next senior guy just kind of took over without management doing anything about it everything began to run as it had before senior guy was fired.
#49
Worked as a cleaner for dentist offices as a second job. Boss sent her boyfriend to come pick up her check and then the very next day (pay day) she apparently 'went on vacation for a week' and didn't bother to pay any of her employees. She lost a lot of workers when she came back from vacation.
#50
I was working in a restaurant that switched from fast food to half full service, so I would refill water, bus dishes, etc, but customers would order food at the counter and carry the tray to their table. Once we switched, customers would occasionally leave tips out on the tables for us which was awesome since we were doing twice as much work with no pay raise, but then the manager put signs on all the tables saying "no tipping". Maybe it had something to do with taxes or payroll, I don't know, but at the time it just felt like huge d*ck move...
At a company wide meeting (45 people) called the employees an expense, did not go over well at all. Two people actually stood up and threatened to quit on the spot if the boss didn't reevaluate his statement and could explain what was wrong with it.
And he made it pretty clear by tone of voice and overall feel that he only thought of the employees as an expense and not at resource, that yes costs money, but also is the reason the company actually earns money as well. And if he could he would do it all by himself to save on the expenses of having employees. We are talking about engineers with years, some cases decades, of experience, and he thought he could replace them if only he had the time. That's what the b*tching was about.
#52
Telling employees that they are going to fire you if you don't make more sales. Then when someone quits tell them naww that was just motivation. We were never going to fire you.
#53
Worked at a Insurance company that focused on processing applications and underwriting. Less than a few months into them having mass hiring and site opening they implemented "quiet hours". Twice a day (once in morning and other in afternoon) for 3 hour blocks you were not allowed to talk to other coworkers. You couldn't even message them on the internal instant messenger and had to switch your status to "Busy". If your manager saw your status was not in "busy" they would message you about it. Also you were highly discouraged from asking necessary work related questions during this period. If you were observed talking to a fellow coworker for assistance with something you would get weird stares from management and sometimes have to explain that we are not having casual conversation. All this for the sake of "productivity" the morale killing word of every business. People went from initially thinking this company and job were so great to hating the place. As you would suspect other changes further contributed to the shift.
#54
I was a hard worker, like an extremely hard worker. One day a supervisor asked why I wasn’t working at my usual pace, so I told him I was facing homelessness if I couldn’t find somewhere to live.
He said "Heyyy well I really need my superstar out here! I depend on you getting a lot done for me." He couldn’t care any less about my problem...I was an employee who made him look good because I got results, and not a human being.
I never worked hard again, and personally undermined the work ethic of everyone I came in contact with. I didn’t have to learn that particular lesson a second time.
#55
Had a worker that worked herself silly for the job. Really loved the venue, loved the clients, loved the work so she would work after clocking off, take work home, go in on weekends. Really just go above and beyond always. We always got incredible feedback from clients and suppliers about her. In our contract it says we’re entitled to a 5k raise after being employed for 3 years. At our yearly renewal (having been there for 3.5 years) she asked for the raise. She was flat out told there was no room in the budget. She could have taken them to fair work commission but instead she just started looking for jobs. She left (got a great position in a great company and is loving it!). The guy they hired to replace her had a quarter of the experience, no love for the job and his annual salary was 10k higher. Most of us have since left and the place is falling to sh*t.
#56
I worked at a restaurant with a sh*t tipped minimum-- $2.63 an hour. We'd be penalized for being even 5 minutes late so lots of us showed up 20-30 min early to make sure we'd avoid the penalty (this is Boston, so that was an appropriate gamble, I've gotten stuck on the T for 10-20 min on NUMEROUS occasions), and we'd just get right to work-- and there's plenty to do when opening a big restaurant. So we'd clock in and start working-- no one was clocking in and failing to work. In fact I liked getting there early because the kitchen would get up to 113, most of the morning prep occurred in the kitchen and was fairly rigorous, we didn't really air condition and had to wear long sleeved shirts and pants. So I could knock everything out in a tank and shorts, change into my uniform, and not start my shift a sweaty mess.
The manager gave us a big lecture about how it adds up, even if it IS only $2.63 an hour. She made a new rule that we couldn't clock in more than 10 minutes before our shift began, EVEN IF WE WERE WORKING. By the way, that's a 15-minute window of appropriate clocking in time, in Boston, with a notoriously unreliably public transportation system, crazy weather, and over-clogged roads.
F*ck Grafton Street and f*ck you, Ashley.
#57
Was working for EB Games when GameStop bought them. 20% of any warranty, and $1 for every subscription sold went into your paycheck as commission. And you'd never feel dirty selling the things, because Edge Magazine (EB's answer to Game Informer) and their extended warranties were legit, and fairly priced.
GameStop buys the company. First thing they do? Nix the commissions. You still have to sell the stuff, of course. I'll never forget the first meeting I had with GameStop as a manager. They really drilled how profitable those things are to the company. Soon after came the threats of reduced hours if you didn't hit quotas, mandated by corporate.
Yeah. F*ck Gamestop.
#58
I knew someone who worked at a factory (in West Virginia or Ohio) that was purchased by a Japanese firm. On day one, they took away everyone's stools and said everyone had to stand for their entire work day. What a stupid way to get every person to hate you on day 1, with no benefit! Of course, many of the employees had back problems and other health issues that made it painful or impossible to continue in their jobs.
#59
I used to work at a gas station/convenience store. Our manager was definitely cheap, but he brought it to a whole new level after he bought another gas station over 50 miles away.
He started scheduling his pre-existing staff from my store to work in his other store, over 50 miles away. Some of us were still in high school, but he didn't give a sh*t. He refused to hire more people.
#60
My company had an (anonymous) employee suvey this past year and when the results (which reflected negatively on the GM/Manager) were revealed, everyone had to sit through a four hour meeting where, line by line, our GM asked "why do 50% of you feel this way" or "60% of you not like this"? No one really spoke up (it was supposed to be anonymous) so we just got told how if we felt that way, this is why our feelings were wrong. By the end of the four hours most of us were like "was that supposed to deter us from rating negatively next year... So we don't have to sit through a 4 hour meeting about how we're not right in feeling the way we did"
Changed up the metrics that determined people's bonuses. And included things that were important for the business to know, but completely beyond the control of the people who's bonuses were impacted.
For example, we had a "right party contact" rate -- how many times you actually got the person you were calling vs the number of calls you actually made. The problem was the phone number list came from elsewhere, and the people making the calls were just given a list of numbers, and you had to call them all. No leeway.
So you're calling blind from a list you don't control... and get penalized if the list is sh*t.
Oddly enough, the people in charge of making the phone number lists, their bonuses were not influenced by right party contact rate.
#62
New general manager came in, fired all the best people (I was really good but had only been there for 3 years so I wasn't making a lot) because they were "making too much money" and replaced them with base pay workers who didn't give a sh*t. Then that increased the workload on everyone else that wasn't fired so they all quit. Then the hotel was stuck with half a sh*tty staff. Funny thing is that we made in the ballpark of 20 million dollars the year before my original GM left and the year the new GM took over I heard from one of the few people that still worked there (there were 2 originals out of a 60 person staff) that they were projected to barely clear 2 mil. We were in the top 5 Hiltons in the entire Midwest for years and there were only a handful of nights like Christmas when we wouldn't sell all 140 rooms. Why that dumb sh*t tried to change everything when the place ran itself and was kicking serious ass I will never know, but he's out of a job now. My old GM would literally leave halfway through the day if he wanted (rarely) because our managers were so good and everyone actually cared about the place.
#63
Plumbing shop. Newer owners came in. They were a married couple who had worked there for years and bought out the original owner. A few months later has we are heading into Christmas, they called each employee in one at a time to explain how they (the employee) weren’t getting a holiday bonus because the employee had messed something up earlier in the year. My reason was that I had broke a mirror in a customers bathroom and it had cost $200 to replace. And they just couldn’t afford to pay any bonuses. (I brought in over $500,000 worth of business that year. ) Next week they drove up in a new sports car. Someone asked what it was and another plumber said it was a 2007 Christmas Bonus. They’ve had a huge turnover in employees now. No one from when I worked there ( ‘94-08) is still there.
#64
I had a boss who would pick pairs of people he thought should get to know each other better and strongly suggest that we go out to lunch together.
For some reason he matched me with one of our younger and more opinionated engineers, who spent the entire lunch ranting about how all taxation is theft and how our support for Israel was stupid, that if the Jews wanted to run around in the desert we should just give them Arizona.
It was certainly a learning experience for me, though not in the way my boss was hoping. I stayed as far away from that guy as I could for the rest of his (thankfully brief) employment with is.
#65
We were once in the middle of a very stressful period of work, and everyone was feeling it. However, one afternoon, an off-hand comment turned into a conversation that we all got involved with and led to a few laughs. My manager, returning from a meeting, piped up "Oh we've finished tomorrow's work, have we? What's all this about (insert subject matter)". Entire team instantly deflated.
Unnecessary. Every employee needs time to blow off a little steam.
#66
Casually said the best employee was X and everyone, including X, knew that X was among those who did the least amount of work.
#67
Me personally, I'm a security guard at a library. My boss said she wanted me moving around a lot, which is cool. I would get up every 15 minutes, patrol the entire building, then sit back down for another 15 minutes. It's not the busiest place so it seems to work out fine, especially since my coworkers always know how to get a hold of me. However, apparently a coworker told my supervisor I was slacking off (and this coworker's known for micromanaging people she has no control over) and wasn't doing my job properly. But instead of talking to me about it, my boss just says, "Oh I meant CONSTANTLY. CONSTANTLY walking, 4 to 8 hours straight, no sitting down AT ALL. Also we fired the only other security guard so you gotta take his shifts too." So other than a legally obliged 15 minute break, I'm supposed to be hiking all day long and "assert my presence" to the dozen or so patrons we have.
I'm turning in my 2 week notice on Wednesday, and in the meantime I just take VERY long bathroom breaks....
#68
Layoffs. 73 people lost their jobs because a huge project lost money instead of making money. Another 73 or so lost their jobs because the company was moving in a different direction and didn't need as many people with their skill set. These were by and large very talented people, as opposed to deadwood or shiftless morons. You get rid of deadwood and morons, and it gets the rest of the deadwood and morons to work harder. You get rid of talented people, and everyone else gets angry, fears for their own job, and/or starts looking for a new job.
#69
I used to work for Microsoft. When Google was first growing really rapidly, they were becoming famous for their perks including free food.
At a company meeting, someone asked Steve Ballmer (CEO at the time) if we were going to get free food too. Ballmer famously answered something like "would you rather have free food, or get paid $10,000/year more?" That argument might have held water if Microsoft paid more, but in addition to not having free food they actually paid a fair bit less.
#70
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Originally Published Here: 20+ Times Bosses Did Something So Stupid It Instantly Made Their Workers Quit Or Lose Will To Work
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20+ Times Bosses Did Something So Stupid It Instantly Made Their Workers Quit Or Lose Will To Work was originally posted by AllAbout NEwsBolg - Feed