We stopped shopping there when they made it harder for military to get a discount. We don’t have a right to a discount, but Home Depot gives one generously.
Half the people at lowes don’t seem to work anyway.
You nailed it. My son-in-law works as a private contractor for Lowes here in NJ and he said the same thing several months ago. They actually asked him to train them. He abruptly refused!
I went into a Lowe’s the other day and there were no cashiers, only self-checkouts that didn’t take cash. I told a manager I was paying cash and she had to open a register for me. I asked why they didn’t hire more people and she said they are trying but people don’t want to start at $13 an hour and the ones that do, fail the drug test.
“”Outsourcing” means that they will fire US citizens and hire illegal contractors who will work for half the price.”
While you are probably right it’s worth discovering why the layoffs are happening. Government regulation at all levels make having employees expensive. As an employer, you must comply with federal, state, county and city rules. Every rule adds a cost that must be mortised across your entire workforce. So, the accountant goes to work and figures out what it costs above pay and benefits to have an employee. Then the accountant figures out how much money each employee has to earn to cover his cost. Someone who deals with commercial customers and writes orders for hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour easily pulls his weight. A janitor or grill assembler doesn’t. That isn’t because cleaning the place or assembling a grill aren’t valuable contributions. It’s because regulations add so much overhead that the people doing those tasks are not adding anything to the bottom line. Their tasks can be more cheaply exported to an outside supplier. The outside suppliers will be smaller and therefore subject to less regulation, so they can actually make a profit doing those tasks. Whether the outside supplier hires citizens or illegals is a separate issue. But it is not an issue Lowe’s is concerned with.
If we don’t want companies to outsource labor then we need to reduce the ridiculous number of laws, regulations and taxes imposed on hiring Americans.
“”Outsourcing” means that they will fire US citizens and hire illegal contractors who will work for half the price. “
That’s exactly right.
We quickly figured out a way to work together, holding the boxes and stuffing the sticks, to easily finish the job in 15 minutes, or less. Everyone was happy. My dad had the butter boxed, and my sister and I each had our quarter.
I'm sure Lowes has learned the same. I'll bet the Lowes contractors are able to finish the outsourced jobs for a fraction of the time and cost of the in-store workers.
Lowe’s stores are cleaner and brighter than Home Depot.
However, Home Depot has helpful staff, and Lowe’s has nothing.
This country is in a mess.
Hasn’t HOME DEPOT been using outside third party sources like grass cutting, general house cleaning & BBQ/wheel barrel build for years? None wear Aprons & it’s a better business tax deduction? And with a new ex HD running Lowe’s (Marvin Ellison) Lowe’s is just catching up to Home Depot business smarts?
I don’t see how they’re going to save any money. It appears to me that assembling wheelbarrows and barbecue grills is a collateral duty. They have a few floor models (wheelbarrows are usually outside). If you want them to assemble it, they charge you extra, but it’s an employee who otherwise works the floor who assembles it for you.
Is any Lowe’s selling so many wheelbarrows and barbecue grills that assembling them is a full time job?
This does not surprise me.
I went to pick up an online order - took almost an hour. Lot of workers standing around, looking annoyed when you asked them for help (of the two assigned to help pick my order, one did absolutely nothing for whole time). Nobody knew how to process the paperwork (had to call the manager to run the register).
How will they do that? How do they handle the payroll taxes?
How will they do that? How do they handle the payroll taxes?
Not necessarily. But the work will be done by people whosea retirement and other benefits do not show up as liabilities on Lowes balance sheet.
In public companies it’s abut maintaining an illusion for analysts and shareholders.
Too bad Menards is only in the Midwest, they would clean up! They are #3 in sales behind Home Depot and Lowes and those stores are nationwide.
Let’s hear it for the minimum wage!
They need to bone up on their PVC parts. There are lots of holes in their inventory.
If I can’t find everything I need in one place I’ll go across the street to Home Depot. It’s getting a lot easier to order on line for PVC too.
About six months ago, I visited our local Lowes to buy some shelving (I saw it on sale in their online circular).
When I got there, the shelving on sale was missing / gone.
I looked and looked for some sales help; couldn’t find any.
So, I called the store on my cellphone, telling them I was in the shelving aisle, and needed some assistance.
No one showed up.
So, I found a piece of paper and left a note:
“Gave up. Went to Home Depot.”
Home Depot had similar shelving for about $5.00 more. At that point, I almost didn’t care HOW much it cost.
Have not visited Lowes since, and will never go there again.
Home Depot has marginally better customer service, but our local hardware store, called “The Hardware Store,” is outstanding. I go there for little bits and pieces when I need nuts, bolts, washers, a broom, or whatever.
That’s a whole lot more than you probably want to know, but I’m on a roll this morning.
re: “ “Outsourcing” means that they will fire US citizens and hire illegal contractors who will work for half the price. “
Outsourcing these services ALSO means this ‘service’ gets written off in a different tax category (an expense), employee-employer laws don’t apply as to “due process” to fire (contracted services are at will employment) ... and there’s more ...