Still, this season especially should serve as a warning with reality TV, you never know which way things are going to go - and there will always be producers always ready and willing to point out the flaws. While social media erupted with criticism, Peavey posted a long statement on its Facebook page (“Unfortunately, there was no other choice we could make in order to stay competitive in the global marketplace.”)Ĭhances are, companies will be enticed by the prospect of everything going right, as it does for many of the episodes, and the CEOs look like heroes. At the last minute, Michael was offered another job in Peavey - though he was seething that he turned down his other, higher-paying job in order to stay a company that wanted to lay him off anyway. Thresa’s husband kept his job, but it was unclear how long that would last. Employees including Thresa and Michael were all given 60-days’ notice. Peavey Electronics indeed closed down Plant 3 to outsource jobs. Michael happily agreed.Ĭut to a message on screen: “FOUR MONTHS LATER,” in fall 2014. About that other high-paying job? Gray asked if they could “work together” to find a way to keep him at the company. As for Michael, Gray offered him $10,000 to pay off his loans, as well as $5,000 to start a college fund for his kids. He gave Thresa $5,000 to pay off her student loans $10,000 to continue her education and allowed her and her husband (also a Peavey employee) an extra week of vacation. So during the grand finale of the episode, “Kyle” revealed himself as Courtland Gray. He was no longer making enough money to support his family, so he had found a much higher-paying job and given his two weeks’ notice that day. Another employee, Michael, had a similar story. Vacation chopped from three weeks to two weeks. She filled “Kyle” in on all the cutbacks at Peavey over the years: Shifts cut to four days a week. The executives stressed that they didn’t want to outsource jobs overseas, but had to make some changes to operations - so Gray put on a wig and colored contacts and set out to investigate undercover as an employee named Kyle.ĭuring his tour, Gray stopped in “Plant 3” to chat with Thresa, a circuit board technician who worked at the company for 24 years. While it thrived in the music industry boom of the 1970s and ’80s, business has struggled in recent years. It all started when Peavey Electronics, an audio equipment manufacturer based in Meridian, Miss., sent its chief operating officer, Courtland Gray, to check out how things were going in the company. In an ominous sign, CBS issued a statement before the episode aired indicating that something had gone horribly wrong after filming. Take Sunday’s episode, which sent the featured company - Peavey Electronics - scrambling into damage control mode on Monday. But this season, after multiple controversies, it’s becoming clear that the show could also be a liability for employers everywhere. It appeared to be a win-win for the company (free publicity!) and CBS, which enjoyed great ratings and Emmy wins for best reality show. But at the end, when things went well, the boss revealed all - and generally gave out raises, promotions and/or cash money to undervalued employees. Sure, there was the standard queasiness watching people get tricked on television, especially as a CEO disguised himself as an everyday worker to get insight into the company. (Apparently one of the workers idolizes Hartley and was telling Courtland about him.) However apparently Hartley is spying on Courtland.Once upon a time, “Undercover Boss” was one of those reality shows that seemed OK. It was Courtland Grey, apparently Peavey's current COO. ![]() I heard "Hartley" but the Boss was too middle-age to be him. A "who?" for 98% of the viewers, but folks here know Peavey. This leads to a lot of mid-line companies you never heard of. ![]() The companies can't be too small or too large, the script won't fit. In defense of Peavey they did try to maintain the Meridian factories longer than most other brands - and much of their market is now outside the USA - but there does seem to be a sort of trowing in the towel feeling to the events. Maybe initiates improvements in the company. It always turns out that the workers go above-and-beyond, despite corporate blunders, and their own personal challenges.Īt the end the Boss reveals himself to those workers, complements them, and gifts them toward their personal needs. Of course the Boss can't handle actual-work near as good as the average trainee, nevermind the seasoned workers the producers find. Made-up "reality" show "Undercover Boss" has the Boss dress-up as a trainee and take low-level jobs inside his company to find out how his workers are screwing-up his plans.
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