I don't want to go into too many details about my company, but I'm a rep for one of your major suppliers and I was in a DSE store about four times a week. Holy fuck do we feel awful for your staff. It's all we've been discussing since the news broke. Depending on what region you're in, we probably know each other.
DSE staff were always so... Well intentioned. I loved you guys, seriously. Generally reps wouldn't come in very often (we've been told by our boss for years to not "bother wasting time" in your stores because the return wasn't worth it) and because of that I'm always welcomed so warmly because staff are usually happy to get attention. You guys were ALWAYS the most eager to have PKs (NL and Harveys are always "ughhhh not again" and JB are like "fuck yeah but mostly for the free beer!") and that meant a lot. Really really did. You were always so appreciative.
I felt so fucking awful for you guys whenever I walked in. I know of one store, where they had one guy working for a month straight with no days off. He would usually only have one or two part timers, if he was lucky. Their repairs weren't sent out for over 3 WEEKS (not even counting the time it would have taken to fix it and send back) because of this but the regional manager was being a cunt to him and he had zero help despite emailing Aus every day asking for help.
The best manager I knew there was in charge of one of the tech stores. Top bloke, super motivated. He kept up a faulty positive demeanor in front of everyone but whenever I'd chat to him, he'd tell me the woes of having no communication and being completely ignored by the Aus head office. Tbh, literally every DSE store I've visited, which would be ~15 or so, would regularly confess to me that they weren't told anything.
I was in one of your smallest stores last week and you had four staff on. I couldn't believe it, that was a huge amount for DSE. No customers. We spent about half an hour chatting and the guys there were convinced that DSE was going to be bought out. One of them said that the emails last week had been phrased slightly differently (I can't remember the example she gave) compared to what they had normally been getting and it sounded a little optimistic. They must be having such a crushing day :(
Really, thank you so much for how great your staff have been. There's stereotypes around each chain (JB staff are pretty cool, Harveys are usually arrogant, NL is all over the board but you can always count on them demanding pens or shirts for free) and DSE was always considered to be the good hearted ones who meant well but were dealt a shit hand by a bullshit head office.
My company isn't hiring at the moment, but best of luck in your search! If it makes you feel better, when DSE suddenly made all your storemen and assistant managers redundant in~ 2012, I know for a fact that a lot of your competitors told their staff to be on the lookout for anyone from DSE who would be job hunting because they'd be taken seriously.