The job wasn't bad at all, it's the management you have to watch out for - Anonymous employee PetSmart Employee Review

3.0
May 2, 2012
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You learn a whole lot about different animals and their care, and you get to help new/existing pet parents which can be very satisfying

Cons

The management in all departments that I have worked in do a whole lot of nothing. They skate out of anything they can if it involves manual labor. One of my managers spent an entire 10 hour shift running around with a clipboard in his hand saying how worried he was about cycle count (that is when you take inventory of how many fish you have, by merely counting them) and refused to help with customers. Funny thing was, for all of his worrying, another associate and I counted the fish in about 1.5 hours (while helping customers in between), and he ended up doing nothing. And that's just one example of their laziness!

Explore other reviews about PetSmart

5.0
May 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fun, welcoming, easy, flexible, growth

Cons

Weekends, slow, customers, busy, fast pace

1.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company pushes for more and more from the bottom level employees without better pay. I worked there before the restructuring and; not much can make me cry, but working here sure did, even back then. I can’t imagine how anxiety inducing it must be to work there now. Animal welfare is a complete non-concern. The only thing that’s pushed is sell, sell, sell. It’s borderline dystopian. Bad management seems to be a common issue, not only from my experience, but many others’ as well. I worked until I was an exhausted sweaty mess to make sure everything in pet care or, when I groomed, the salon, was cleaned to perfection as expected of me (and I reiterate: “me,” because these standards were not expected of my co-workers, just me) and overall felt very unseen. The only times I did feel “seen,” was when mistakes were made. Work was treated like boot camp. A co-worker that was subtley targeting/bullying me, and even started rumors accusing me of racist remarks(!!!), was promoted and anything I reported was downplayed because they were friends with the assistant manager. Working here was an overall traumatizing experience.

Cons

Employees are expected to be work-robots

avatar
PetSmart Response
4w
We’re disappointed to hear that your experience didn’t reflect what we aim to create for our associates, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We invite you to contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693 so we can learn more and see how we can support you. Thank you.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All