Annual Christmas Party/ Bonus Thread: 2018 Edition

That's at least better than, "Best wishes in your future endeavors."

 

Working for New GanHouse, I'm sure I'll get a typed memo from Mike Reed that is forwarded to someone in HR who will forward it to everyone in the company wishing us all a happy holiday season, but keeping working hard to hit those goals!

 

Every paper can afford to take care of its employees during the holidays. It's simply this: Does the publisher care about the employees or don't they? If you're at the right place, you don't have to worry about this.

 

Wonder how much an enrollment in the Jelly of the Month Club costs?

 

Our Christmas party yesterday at my Walmart store included seemingly bottomless Chinese food with all the fixings from Panda Express: steamed rice, vegetable-fried rice, chow mien, chicken/zucchini, orange chicken, teriyaki chicken, beef & broccoli, kung pao chicken and egg rolls.

At first, I thought it was a little strange to have Chinese food for a Christmas dinner, until I remembered how my mom, my sister and I had gone and picked up, you guessed it, Panda Express, last year after church on Christmas Eve (mostly because that was practically the only place open at that time, on that night, but still...).

As usual, we didn't get a Christmas bonus per se, but did receive our quarterly profit-sharing bonuses: nearly $200 for each full-time employee, and about $100 for each part-time associate. Not as good as last year's, because such bonuses are tied to store performance, and we didn't do as well for the comparative time period, of course. But once again, I can't, and won't, complain.

 

Four things this year:

Started Thanksgiving week, when the company instituted an extra paid holiday to go along with the one we already get. Had mixed feelings about this. Loved having two extra days off that week, but we were seriously shorthanded whenever I was in.

Next, we were invited to the parent company's annual holiday party. Couldn't make it because I work Saturday nights. From what I understand, almost all of our top editors went, but most of the worker bees passed.

After that came the newsroom potluck, which ended two hours before my shift began and mainly consisted of cookies and cold, picked-over, unappealing-looking leftovers when I arrived. At least an honest-to-goodness cleanup crew came in this year at 5 p.m. to cart everything away. Last year, nobody cleaned up and it was up to the night crew to deal with the mess at the end of the evening.

Finally, we got $40 Publix gift cards -- up from $20 last year. Spent much of it on a six-pack of one of my favorite IPAs and a nice bottle of red wine for the wife.

 

And where are these safe havens?

Because last I checked, New Gannett now owned 1/6th of all newspapers in the country. The only XMas bonus their employees will get is a brief reprieve from the impending layoff notices that are sure to arrive in the new year.

Meanwhile, McClatchy is taking on water faster than the Titanic. Tribune (aka the artist formerly known as Tronc) hasn't valued employees in the internet age.

Block is too busy crushing morale in Toledo and Pittsburgh in their rush to suck Trump's toadstool.

Lee papers are probably just happy this Christmas will be their first without Mary Junck in charge, though she still has her Grim Reaper costume somewhere. The former Berkshire Hathaway properties under Lee are probably a half dozen drinks in as they recall the days when Warren Buffett gave a damn about them.

The folks at Advance were probably gifted new metrics and a loftier byline count.

I guess if you work at the NYT, WaPo, or LAT you're doing OK. Maybe that bonus can help pay 1/16th of January's rent.

 

Clark Griswold’s enrollment was gratis. Can’t beat that.

 

A former co-worker who took a job at what's generally considered a "safer haven" reports that her paper's holiday celebration consisted of sandwiches from Subway. She said that at least they could've paid a bit more for something better, like Jersey Mike's.

 

Solo has great posts on this site. Solo for president of the USA.

 

I have a friend who works for one of the large chains. No acknowledgment of the holiday. Not even an email from the one person, the CEO, who makes zillions of dollars for losing money and laying off enough people so he/she can continue to fly to Switzerland cabin for the holidays. It's pretty rude to not even acknowledge to employees it is Christmas/New Year time except warning about the coming layoffs.
I guess the one percenter CEO's can always use the excuse that it's simply not right to acknowledge a secular holiday in which only some people take part. Nonbelievers outnumber believers now, at least on social media, so the ultra rich CEO can say it is only right and proper to not acknowledge a religious holiday such as Christmas. In fact it would be despicable to do so, the CEO could say. It could really trigger people who don't believe.