Anecdotes From Home Depot Employee

In Target Drops Healthcare Coverage for Part-Time Workers I implied Target was disingenuous in its claim it would not reduce hours because of Obamacare.

No Reduction in Hours?

Target claims there will be no reductions in hours worked. The only way I believe that is if Target already reduced hours, well in advance.

The huge, ongoing discrepancy between Household Survey employment, and the Establishment Survey jobs report suggests just that.

Although I do not have proof or even anecdotes from Target employees, I did receive an interesting email from "Pat", a Home Depot worker.

Hi Mish,

As a part-time employee of Home Depot (HD) for almost eight years now, I can affirm that every part-time worker at HD has had a cap of 29 hours placed on their work schedules. This occurred over a year ago, with no fanfare or announcement. Before the change we part-timers could count on more than 30 hours during the busy spring and summer months. Full-time jobs are only available if someone leaves the store, and sometimes not even then.

Although the store I work at seems to be doing well if one looks at sales (rewards are based on 1/2 year performance), it does not 'feel' like it is doing well...and I have not been able to determine exactly what has changed.

As a relatively new subscriber to your blog it has been good to read of what is going on economically around the globe. Much of what you highlight is not mentioned in the media I follow, so it fills a gap. Thanks!

Pat

One email from one reader is not proof of anything. Heck, anecdotes in general do not constitute legitimate data. That said, I have received stacks of similar emails over the past year, all saying the same or similar thing.

I even received an email from the owner of 50-store regional chain who said he was going to reduce hours (because he had to).

Yet, Obama and mainstream media do not see (or admit) this happened.

I maintain there is genuine supporting data for my thesis. For details, please see Employment vs. Jobs Discrepancy - December 2013 Data.

Inquiring minds should also be interested in a related post Tsunami of Retail Store Closings and Downsizings Coming; Expect Layoffs and Shorter Hours.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com