Well--I may have to eat my words on this one. I've heard clarification from a whole lot of Home Depot employees all over the country. Apparently, in stores that are doing less that are doing under $35m, the night crews are not being moved, they are effectively being phased out. IMAs (orderers are being eliminated) and offered other positions. But those new positions are often part-time, a significant sacrifice for long-term full-time employees.
The same kind of not-so-subtle tactic to force attrition is being used on night crew personnel in smaller stores. They are being offered insufficient hours to replace their income.
I'm waiting to hear what benefits they lose in that transition.
This is only a problem because of the smokescreen that yesterday's announcement. Layoffs are legitimate in hard times -- lying about them is not.