Promo product division is super cheap and offers no future - Anonymous employee Staples Employee Review

2.0
Aug 4, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some really cool people work here. It's a fun industry. You can take advantage of employee stock purchase plan.

Cons

This is a successful Fortune 500 company that runs like it's one missed check away from financial disaster. They won't spend a penny they don't have to. For our employee holiday party, they had catering from Fazoli's. The people serving gave tiny portions, then they had the audacity to sell the leftovers the next day. For National Pizza Day, they ordered in pizza. And sold it for $1.50 a slice. Go out for a team lunch and don't expect the company to pick up the tab like nearly every other business. Nope, you're on your own. If you took part in the Corporate Challenge, they made you pay for your own t-shirt. We make t-shirts. And most companies provide them free. But not Staples Promo Products. It seems executive bonuses (only executives get bonuses, by the way), are tied in to budgets, so no one is willing to shell out for anything that's not absolutely essential. And then there's the possibility for career advancement. There is none. You're stuck in your current role, but if you're lucky, you may get a whopping 1.5% annual raise. If, by chance, a position does open up, in all likelihood it's going to someone better connected, but less qualified than you. Overall, SPP suffers from the Peter Principle. That is, people have stuck around long enough to get promoted to positions they are completely incapable of handling.

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5.0
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CEO approval
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Pros

Was a good job to have

Cons

Not enough pay per hour.

1.0
Jul 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You will acquire genuinely useful AR and account management skills including Oracle, MS Office, customer support, reporting, and general O2C fundamentals. These skills will help you in future roles and look good on a résumé. To be transparent: those skills will come in handy when you’re searching for a new job later — because based on team conditions, you’ll likely be looking again within a year.

Cons

The Escalation Specialist role was originally part of the Center of Excellence (COE) and fully remote. It is no longer remote. Management relies heavily on weekly “validation” scorecards to evaluate performance. These scorecards often feel subjective and based more on opinion than actual workload, metrics, or demonstrated knowledge. They do not accurately reflect your true performance or skill level. Recognition tends to go to the same small group of individuals (primarily within Vendor Management), even though the Specialists are responsible for the majority of the day‑to‑day work and issue resolution. This creates an uneven sense of visibility and appreciation across the team. You deserve better!

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