The trend this Thanksgiving to have stores either open on Thanksgiving Day, late in the evening, or late at night on Thursday night is very troubling. First, a day that was a real holiday in this country, a day when people really got together with family and friends, has become, like so many American holidays, all about shopping. It's not just about making money, the consumers are at fault as well. Yes, our economy needs the jump start, but will these few extra hours on Thanksgiving Day really make a difference in the month long run-up to Christmas? And then the After-Christmas sales? What legacy are we creating when the focus of every holiday is to get through the holiday (read: family) stuff and move on to the selfish acquisition of material goods.
Why is it selfish? What if really need a cheap coat? Well, that cheap coat could wait a few hours, and it's selfish because people have to come in to work in the stores, that need to be open, because....I'm still not sure. I asked a few employees today in two different "Big Box Stores" whether they could take the day off if they wanted to. The woman in Target told me "No, they won't approve any vacation days for Thursday at midnight through Friday." The temp at Walmart told me they need to work from 6pm until 6 am (I think the store opens at 9pm) on Thanksgiving, but that you could take off if you want to, but there is no overtime pay. I didn't ask the woman in Target if she would get overtime. She said "They make it so that your life outside of work is less and less important."
This made me so sad. Aside from the employees needing to be in the store for it to open, they also need to sleep at some point, so effectively their Thanksgiving will be dictated by their work schedule. Say they normally have dinner at six, finish around eight or nine? Now? They need to start earlier so they can get a few zzz's before they are up working all night.
Somethings need to be sacred in this country, and some things need to go beyond the almighty dollar, but as soon as one retailer skips the line, they all have to copy that for fear of being left in the financial dust. It's great to get a deal, but the deals can start at 8 am on Friday, and let people who work these jobs have a life.
I find this extremely troubling.
7 comments:
do you find it troubling that doctors work 12 hour shifts thru the night and don't get overtime. its a fact of life.
It's really not the same, I think you are being disingenuous to say so, and if you really believe that, then you need to realize that not everyone lives in a world where they have any sort of choice when it comes to employment. They take what they can get, and they are thankful for every day and every minute they have a job. Many of these companies keep their worker just under full time so as not to provide benefits, and the loss of jobs for some people means they are up a creek big time. Life isn't all white collar.
And this was always a holiday, they changed the rules mid game.
Also, Doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, they know going in that their jobs are 24/7, and need to be staffed at all times. There are times when retail could close. Further, as I mentioned above, this is a game changer. Opening on Thanksgiving or opening earlier on Thanksgiving is new.
Because we may like what a system affords us, it still doesn't make it right if we look beyond ourselves. The almighty dollar, whether someone is making it or saving it off the back of someone else, doesn't make everything that's done in it's name alright.
I will concede that for some, if there is overtime, hey may welcome the ability to make more money, but as I noted before, it goes beyond the individual, and instead illuminates what is sacred in this country. Money.
What is most unfortunate is that in the current labor market, where so many people are out of work, companies both large and small can afford to take advantage of their employees. The attitude at many companies is "They should be happy they have a job at all," even as it pertains to white-collar, managerial-level employees earning six-figure incomes. This is why at most companies, employees are paying a larger share of their health insurance premiums, for example.
In a tight labor market, retailers would not dream of making their employees come in to work on a holiday without "sweetening the pot," either via overtime pay, or some other perk.
I can't really comment about whether or not it's worth it for these retailers to be open on Thanksgiving; I'm certain that they've invested considerable time and effort into generating exhaustive, research-driven forecasts. What I do know is that there's definitely a "me too" factor at play here, as in "how can we not be open for business on that day if our competitors are?" As such, I'd expect an ever-increasing number of retailers to open their doors on Thanksgiving in the future.
At a minimum, I'd be sure to do something to make it worth my employees' while. This is not for humanitarian purposes. Rather, I'd want to ensure that my customer-facing colleagues are enthusiastic about their jobs. As we all can attest, the attitude of a retailer's lowest-paid employees can have a significant bearing - positive or negative - on our shopping experience, and the likelihood of us becoming repeat customers.
while all this is true i am unlikely to not shop at Target in the future because they forced employees to work the holiday weekend. Old Navy is open all day thursday (then again at midnight) but still even if I wont shop on Thanksgiving I am not likely to take a stand for the rest of the year. How else though to stop this rampant consumerism?
All the store is trying to do is get the most people in their store and not go somewhere else so once one changed all the others had to follow. And why would a consumer not want to shop at 9 at night as suppose to midnight so they could get a normal night sleep and not kill a Friday.
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