TKC TIPSTERS ARE EVERYWHERE AND THEY'RE DEDICATED TO KEEPING KANSAS CITY WELL-INFORMED ABOUT STUFF MAINSTREAM MEDIA KEEPS QUIET!!!
To wit, thanks to yet another KICKASS TKC TIPSTER for sharing a bit of knowledge about what could be upcoming H&R Block layoffs:
"Rumors of new layoffs coming, words like "massive" and "biggest yet" are being floated, 35-40 days out.
Best hope for Block is to get bought out by a private equity firm where the issues can be fixed without answering to w-street every quarter, company still has good cash generating business, but keeps losing clients."
After the jump . . . Look at the company memo on this subject that mainstream media won't run because they want to hold on to advertising cash. Check it:
From: Smyth, Russ
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 2:29 PM
To: REDACTED
Subject: Business Update
Hello everyone. As we’ve come to the close of Tax Season 2010, I think we can all agree it has been a very challenging season. Despite our challenges, I’ve observed the tireless spirit of our associates, and I want each of you to know how appreciative I am of your strong efforts. I was proud to see that we didn’t give up and continued to focus on taking care of our clients, as well as quickly making mid-season adjustments that improved our results in the second half of tax season.
As we look in the rearview mirror, there are lessons to be learned from this tax season – especially regarding the early-season clients that we lost to competitors this year. Although results in the second half showed improvements, we still served nearly 1 million fewer clients in our retail tax offices this year. And while we grew our digital clients in the second half, we finished slightly down in total digital clients compared to the prior year. More importantly, our growth in the rapidly expanding online channel significantly lagged our online competition.
We are now turning our attention to leveraging our learnings to improve our performance for next tax season. Our clients are clearly telling us that we have to significantly change the way we do business and that the status quo will only result in more client loss. We know that merely tweaking our business will not result in growth in clients or market share, which means our plans going forward will reflect a much more aggressive and competitive mindset.
The senior leadership team is working quickly to finalize our strategic plans that will guide us into the next tax season and beyond. We are refining our focus on those few things that are most important to our targeted client segments. Once this work is complete, we will determine the best organization structure and the resources required to execute on these key initiatives. This will likely result in a significant amount of job restructuring and, unfortunately, elimination of positions. While changes like these are never easy, they are necessary for us to increase our client focus and to invest in areas that are critical for future growth.
We understand that this news may cause concern or curiosity, and that is understandable. We are moving quickly to evaluate and finalize all options and will share additional information as soon as more details are available. All of us will be asked to embrace change over the next 30-45 days in order to ensure our long-term growth.
We have a strong and lasting heritage, one that makes us all very proud. However, we need to recognize that our business is under attack, and we need to fight to defend it and to regain our stature as an industry leader. I remain committed to our client-focused strategy, investing for future growth, and making the right changes to become a more effective and efficient organization – because that is what all great companies do.
I know we have some tough times ahead, but I remain optimistic that with some aggressive, client-focused changes that we can expect a brighter future. Thanks again for your efforts this tax season and for your support, engagement and work to help us prepare for Tax Season 2011.
Russ
Their only market is selling overpriced returns to poor people. They charge more than CPA firms for more complicated returns and many of the preparers don't know what they're doing. The middle class does their returns online so where is their future?
ReplyDeleteYOu're right, but mostly what H&R Block is selling is its software. Their people are just software input clerks. Not tax advisors.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that an H&R Block signature at the bottom is a tip for me not to get audited because Block always plays it conservative.
But I'm not giving them $300 bucks again, since I stopped off at a CPA after tax day, and they said they can't remember charging anyone $300 for a routine two state return!
So H&R block won't have me next year. We're done with them. STockholders, take note!
Tony doesn't care about them as advertisers because he (or his mom) doesn't pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand any of it.
ReplyDeleteThey layoffs started yesterday the 14th of May.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Block employee and I've heard the following from the former retail president:
ReplyDelete"They are gutting the company."
Expect 40-60% of the kansas city employees to be laid off.
I don't see how Block going belly up is bad news for KC. Block sucks!
ReplyDeleteLayoffs continued yesterday, May 17, yet strangely there has been nothing in the news. A layoff of several hundred people by a publicly traded company is usually made public.
ReplyDeleteMany of those laid off were hard working dedicated people. Not everyone let go was a slacker!