Does Books-A-Million pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Books-A-Million employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.7 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Books-A-Million. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Books-A-Million?

59% of Books-A-Million employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Books-A-Million 3.4 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.2 for culture and values and 2.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Books-A-Million?

Bookseller (351) , Sales Associate (97) , Bookseller/Barista (73) , General Manager (71) , Co-Manager (56) , Barista (53) , Assistant General Manager (39) , Manager (29) , Book Seller (27) , Cashier (22) , Sales Associate/Cashier (21) , Assistant Manager (19) , Associate (17) , Cashier/Barista (17) , Bookseller and Cashier (14)

What are the pros of working at Books-A-Million according to real employee reviews?

"The people I worked with were great and we genuinely did have a good time." ((in 134 reviews)); "Coworkers were great and loved the discount" ((in 118 reviews)); "30% discount and flexible hours" ((in 52 reviews)); "Fun work environment" ((in 34 reviews)); "They have flexible schedules and a 30% off discount for employees." ((in 31 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Books-A-Million according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay and if customers use the bathroom on the store floor corporate won't hire a biohazard team to clean it up" ((in 269 reviews)); "The management in this company was horrible." ((in 146 reviews)); "Because it always seems the managers have something better to do than help make sure the guest is satisfied." ((in 88 reviews)); "The pay is another con here....booksellers start out just a smidge above minimum wage." ((in 57 reviews)); "Upper Management has called and bullied employees at the store until they were in tears because they were afraid of getting fired for the store having a bad day at metrics." ((in 53 reviews))

What are employees saying about Books-A-Million layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Books-A-Million layoffs and their outlook for job security at Books-A-Million in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Books-A-Million locations?

Birmingham , Nashville , Mobile , Hattiesburg , Jacksonville , Florence , South Portland , Columbia , Beavercreek , Winchester , Katy , Biloxi , Orlando , Valdosta , Gadsden , Edwardsville , Jackson , Jackson , Mount Juliet , Harrisburg , Anderson , North Charleston , Myrtle Beach , Atlanta , Huntsville , Virginia Beach , Traverse City , Charlotte , New Bern , Grapevine

Skip to content Skip to footer

Notifications

Books-A-Million

Books-A-Million reviews

3.2

59% would recommend to a friend

(1,750 total reviews)

Terry Finley

62% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

3.4

Work/Life balance

3.2

Culture & values

3.2

Senior management

2.9

Career opportunities

2.7

Compensation and benefits

Books-A-Million has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 1,750 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Books-A-Million employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

3.0

Aug 17, 2009

BAM has forgotten that they are booksellers

Former gm

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

love of books, great customers, can move up management chain quickly if reasonably competent

Cons

too much emphasis on discount card program instead of actually selling books, not enough salary dollars allotted to store to staff adequately, pay competitive salaries or complete assigned tasks, zero budget allowance for training new employees, outdated computer systems, unreal expectations and micromanagement by home office, atmosphere of expendability of all employees regardless of experience or past performance, one-way communication stream from home office to store level management

3.0

Jul 6, 2009

a job to start off your career but to move away from

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

many people want to work there because they love books. it is nice to have an employee discount and access to check out books. jobs allow for a lot of merchandising and opportunities to be department heads allow employees to learn a lot about one area (like kids book or gift items). after asking for training, i was taught about the different departments in the store - resulting in promotion.

Cons

communication from corporate is unrealistic and ineffective. small payroll budgets make hiring good employees impossible, few benefits, corporate does not listen to store level management on differentiation of stores that would make it compete locally - all decisions are company wide and seem to be made without walking into a store and seeing how long things take to be implemented and what impact, if any, they have. zero time for customer service do to constant merchandising and discounting moves, putting out inventory and scanning every book for voids monthly - all on a skeleton crew. management has to work 60 hours to make up for constant budget cuts and increased "projects".

3.0

Jul 3, 2009

Observations

Bookseller

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The coworkers and the customers were a pleasure to be around, and the environment lends itself towards making connections and sharing ideas.

Cons

The pay is generally horrible at store level, from management down to basic bookseller (a Southern based, non-unionized company), along with increasingly impossible expectations from senior members of the company (i.e. performing the same amount of work with fewer people and hours of operation, increasingly difficult sales expectations, etc.)

Viewing 1732 - 1734 of 1,750 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Currys

3.8★Compensation & Benefits

Blufox Mobile

3.9★Compensation & Benefits

Rakuten Kobo

3.7★Compensation & Benefits

NTWRK

3.8★Compensation & Benefits

Jobs at Books-A-Million