Perusing my daily sites, I ran across a post from SomeEcards about a J.Crew executive (click
here to read in its entirety).
Alejandro Rhett, J.Crew's vice president of men's merchandising, spent the evening posting bar pics after saying goodbye to 175 co-workers.
Filed by Aimee Lutkin
June 18, 2015
If you're not keeping up with the inner workings of corporations that sell variations on tan pants, you probably don't know that J.Crew isn't doing so hot. Their most recent earnings report showed they'd suffered an overall operating loss of almost $521 million. That's a lot! People's hunger for beige sweaters is waning. One of the direct outcomes of this report was 175 lay-offs around the J.Crew offices. That's a lot, too! Think of all those people going home to tell their families and pets and lovers that they've been laid off.
Probably a fair share of them went drinking, but it was sad drinking. Alejandro Rhett, VP of men's merchandising, went PARTYING. And he wasn't afraid to show it on social media, using some of these super fun hashtags: #gonegirl #hungergames #maytheoddsbeeverinyourfavor #nofunhere. Presumably, #nofunhere is ironic, because it looks as though they're having lots of fun.
Honestly, I understand why they're celebrating. There's probably been an enormous amount of tension and somehow they've missed the guillotine. Sure, feel good. But when you post pics all over Instagram showing off how great you feel when almost 200 people are out of work, folks are gonna call it like they see it. And they see a bunch of tone-deaf assholes. Especially since, according to the NY Post, Rhett personally fired a number of them himself.
Maybe everyone's being too sensitive. There's a recent story of a similar staff purging at Lucky Magazine. That same day Lucky's ex-EIC Eva Chen posted a picture on Instagram that offended some people who'd gotten their pink slips:
Um, I guess it's a fashion thing? In that world, a smiling macaroon is a big ole "F*ck You" to the unemployed.
It's unclear whether Rhett is going to get into any trouble for his dumb posts, though they've all been taken down. A rep told the NY Post, “As soon as we were made aware, the appropriate actions took place." High fives all around, maybe?
Many moons ago, I worked at a company that was not doing well. I worked near the sales team, and I will always remember the day when the
entire department was let go. It was sad. Depressingly sad. I did not feel like celebrating. In fact, I remember crying in my cubicle and then walking by their empty cubicles to cry some more. I could not imagine posting something like those images or being laid off and then seeing my co-workers post something like that.
I also have a feeling that Rhett regrets doing that insensitive move too. Really insensitive. Massively insensitive.
Also, very said to hear that J.Crew had to let go of so many employees. It is obvious that their design decisions have cost some dedicated employees their jobs. Sad, sad news all around. Here's to hoping they can turn things around before anymore employees are let go.
What are your thoughts on the article? Did you know that J.Crew had laid off so many members of their team?
This is the weekly "J.Crew Reviews {straight from the JCAs}" post, to help each other share our reviews.
