Poor working conditions at best - CORE Associate PetSmart Employee Review

1.0
Aug 1, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Developing close relationships with people of similar interests/backgrounds. Paid slightly above minimum wage. There is truly very little benefit to working at a PetSmart location.

Cons

Overall poor management: poor middle-management on multiple levels that reduces productivity, conflicting directions from said poor middle-management, complete lack of respect towards employees and even managers at lower levels than store manager level, accomplishing insurmountable feats daily (hourly) even without taking your legally obligated 15 minute break Horrible flexibility: no one respects your availability and only expects you to perform at peak levels with no rewards/benefits This location is absolutely atrocious and if you are considering employment at the Pickering location, I strongly suggest looking elsewhere.

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5.0
May 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Good job and location nice

Cons

None that I can think of

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

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PetSmart Response
3w
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.
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