JC Penney employees: 52 YouTube videos a day?
An internal probe found that workers at the retailer's headquarters spent plenty of time goofing off last year.
J.C. Penney (JCP) employees took goofing off at the office to new heights last year, when internal studies showed they watched 5 million YouTube videos in one month alone.The 4,800 employees at the headquarters in Plano, Texas, had plenty of time for videos of cute cats, LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" and other viral hits in January of 2012. That's the month executives counted up the YouTube views.
That month had about 20 work days. So for 4,800 employees, that works out to about 52 YouTube videos each day while on the clock. In fact, about 35% of the Internet usage at the main office was used for goofing off, The Wall Street Journal reported.
No wonder J.C. Penney's chief operating officer, Michael Kramer, described it to the Journal like this: "I hated the J.C. Penney culture. It was pathetic." CEO Ron Johnson had only been on the job for about two months at that point, and likely had no idea this kind of workplace relaxation was going on.
That kind of YouTube viewing is almost unbelievable. How could anyone get any work done? In fact, you'd almost think people were putting in weekend hours to achieve that level of YouTube activity.
You don't have to be a retail genius to know what happened next: layoffs. Some 1,600 workers have been laid off since then.
Speaking of YouTube, J.C. Penney is getting praised Monday for its "Yours Truly" commercials that aired during Sunday's Academy Awards broadcast.
That is not the only problem at JCPenney, Since Johnson there is nothing of value to buy in the stores and when you walk into a store it is like a tomb. Tried to buy sheets and bedspreads this weekend and the store was almost bare. What it is in the store is shotty merchandise. I am so sad and disappointed about what has happened to JCPenney. I use to buy a lot of things at Penney stores but I haven't bought anything in about 1 1/2 years.
Which explains why they're less interested in customer service than they are in stealing as much time as possible. JCPenney needs to do a massive employee dump and overhaul so they can get back to the way they used to be, with updated quality product, not garbage from China. Also I want an upscale shopping experience, and if I wanted the same kind of South American-street-market atmosphere I get in places like Walmart and Burlington Coat factory, then I'll go to those places.
Lastly, what's good for Apple isn't good for JCP. Funny how they managed to stay in business for over one hundred years, through depression, recessions, wars, idiotic clothing trends, before some decided "new blood" was needed. Well the "new blood" of course failed. Penneys never needed that, but they needed to update and keep in line with internet sales. They can still be saved, but if they're smart, not at the expense of their brick and mortar customers.
Congratulations! This article takes the heat off of Ron Johnson's plundering decisions and refocuses the companies woes to corporate employees lack of focus and vision; but hang-on - isn't that the executives job? Please, the real problem with Penney's is Ron Johnson's new direction. It alienates core customers and isn't really bringing in new ones. Let's keep our eye on the REAL problem(s).
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
RECENT POSTS
The company tries to tamp down criticism from activists who argue that the mascot promotes childhood obesity.
- Oklahoma senators change tune on disaster relief
- At software giant SAP, autism is an asset
- Mike Bloomberg's next career: Taxi magnate?
- Shotgun wedding for Saks and Neiman Marcus?
- Charles Ramsey gets burgers for life, but no Big Macs
- New Jersey bar sting turns up 'swill'
- Mike's Hard Lemonade goes after male drinkers
- Big job gains expected next year, economists say
- Yum aims to fatten up by doubling Taco Bell sales
MARKET UPDATE
[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages ended modestly lower with the S&P 500 shedding 0.3%.
The benchmark average saw an opening loss of 1.2% after Japan's Nikkei tumbled 7.3%. Japanese stocks sold off amid continued volatility in Japanese Government Bond futures as the 10-yr yield spiked almost 16 basis points to 1.002 before the Bank of Japan's JPY2 trillion liquidity injection caused yields to retrace their gains.
Adding insult to injury was news out of China where the HSBC ... More
More Market News
TOP STOCKS
In the never-ending contest for sales, American carmakers are pulling ahead.
MSN MONEY'S
- Shared
- Commented
- Viewed
