Former Sears Canada Employees Research Project

Research Project on ex Sears employees, retired people and laid off workers:
My name is Indranil Chakraborty. I am a Horizon postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University working on a research project: "Abandoned Labour: Stories of Laid-off Sears Workers and Retirees"
The research is a part of seven year project funded by SHHRC on deindustrialization and the politics of time led by Prof. Steven High. Prof. High will lead the transnational investigation into the consequences of working-class job loss in the West. The Project brings together 33 partner organizations and 24 co-applicants and collaborators across six countries in North America and Europe. My research focusses on the individual and collective narratives of the lived experiences of the everyday life of Sears Canada workers and retirees after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2018.

The Sears story is a part of the ‘old’ industry apocalypse— the ‘seismic shifts’ in North America and Europe, with web-centric service industries such as ecommerce, ride-sharing, virtual gaming and food delivery replacing factory or shop floor-based manufacturing and service-based industries (retail). The closure of traditional industries leads to a different kind of reindustrialization. This reindustrialization is based on flexible and lean working conditions (as some workers turn into contractors and free lancers), low wages and minimal health benefits. Even defined-benefit pension plans give way to defined-contribution plans for full-time employees.

I have already interviewed online (e.g. Zoom meeting) 26 ex Sears employees and retirees. My research requires meeting Sears employees and retirees virtually or face to face who resides in different parts of Canada to listen to their everyday life stories: their work, community and family life, feelings about Sears, issues and problems they faced after bankruptcy etc. The most important thing is what requires to be done by the government and the policy makers so that this never happen again. I need your help to connect with your ex colleagues for 45-60 min interviews. This can be face to face or online or even telephonic conversation. For any queries/and clarification regarding this project you and your ex-colleagues can contact my supervisor: Prof Steven High, Department of History, concordia University, [email protected].

My email address is [email protected] or [email protected]. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Indranil

I am Indranil Chakraborty (Indra), Horizon postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University working on the research project: "Abandoned Labour: Stories of Laid-off Sears Workers and Retirees." This research is a part of a larger seven-year SHHRC-funded project that focuses on deindustrialization and the politics of time and is led by Prof. Steven High at Concordia University. My research focuses on individual and collective narratives of the lived experiences of Sears Canada workers and retirees. More specifically, I am concerned with how these former employees make sense of Sears Canada’s bankruptcy, its causes, and its impact on their individual post-bankruptcy lives.

My research requires meeting Sears Canada ex employees and retirees virtually or face to face to listen to and understand their everyday life stories—their work, community and family life, feelings about Sears, and any issues and problems they faced after Sears’ bankruptcy. To gather these data I am conducting interviews with former employees and retirees lasting approximately 45-60 minutes. If you or someone you know was a former employee of Sears Canada I would like to speak with you or them.

This community-based project aims to understand the impact of bankruptcy on (former) employees within the retail sector with a view to informing government policy and initiatives. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to help shape future government responses to business practices that frequently disadvantage all but the C-Suite employees.

For any questions or for clarification regarding this research, please contact me via direct message or at [email protected]