Sociology Seminar #2- Sell out Sears

Description:

This is a picture of Sears Canada Inc's call-center in Regina, Sask where customer service and job security is NOT Sear’s specialty.

Sociological Interpretation:

Sears is an American, capitalist, corporation, targeting the middle class and upper-class in Canadian society. By creating smaller companies to supply their products, they eliminate competition and Sears then poses as an incorporated business. Sears set up a call-center in Regina in 1994. This call-center took catalogue orders and also dealt with parts and service on their big ticket items. Sears Canada Inc was bought by an American share holder and it is now an American owned company. Sears had 4 call-centers in Canada, and one of the biggest call centers was the one in Regina. This Regina-based call-center employed 250 people, not including the warehouse. Sears closed the Regina call-center’s doors on Sept.18/2009, due to “financial issues” after the turn around in Saskatchewan economy.

This was a symbolic “symbolic - a gesture or sign that has an arbitrary, cultural, learned meaning as opposed to one that is species-wide, unlearned or instinctual” Knuttila (48), capitalist move made by the American owners, to simply save money. They had realized that Saskatchewan economy was turning towards the better and wages were drastically increasing and for them, was a major increase in wage expenses. They relocated their call-center to the Philippines because this country’s economy is impoverished. This would mean that they would save millions on wage expenses and a shortage of workers was no longer an issue. 250 people in Regina lost their jobs due to this closure of the call-center, and Bellville Ont., also lost 230 employees.

Sears and Staples are infamously known to set up call centers in locations where unemployment rates are high, and for pulling the call-centers out when the economy turns for the better. Sears sold out their loyal employees to save money on foreign, exploited labour. Sears consumes smaller manufacturing companies to eliminate competition in suppliers. If you buy something from sears, regardless of the brand, all of the money from your purchase goes 100% mark-up back to sears. Sears is a monopoly cooperation and makes billions from upper and middle class Canada, while it slaves the lower class for labour power -Knuttila (162.) of the entire world.