Pros
To prevent homelessness and starvation. To exercise. To unite against a common enemy - regional, national and international management and administration. Those working at Staples generally have a common interest that leads them to apply for work there.
Cons
With three or more deliveries a week, work is never ending. Higher management dictates new floorplans every month and dictates a firm lack of understanding of staff and customers being able to firmly place items. Troublesome customers are more regular than you might expect from a stationery store, and Staples policy does very little to safeguard employees rights - tribunals are staged and right of appeal is limited to five days. The pay is seven pence above minimum wage and a pound above minimum wage for line managers. Understaffing is ripe due to budgetary allocations. I found a high incidence of bullying from senior line managers and an assistant manager, one of which (the line manager) was well sorted out. Assistant Managers and Managers receive a vastly greater payslip than the lower ranking staff who provide the muscle work and interaction that keeps the store going. In 2008, managers were treated to an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas for a week as part of a 'training exercise'. This included flight costs, nights in a hotel and a personal spending budget totalling more than a standard full-time staffer makes in three months. Staffer training post-induction week is a joke. Though a computer training module exists, there is no time for this on the shop floor. The technology is often flawed, and staff are expected to complete it from home. Its generally Staples-exclusive, non transferrable and the certificates are placed on a wall leading to the staff room. Atypical modern staff room, filled to the brink with vending machines (costing more per item than on the shop floor), Staples posters and brochures. Peronal items such as photos of loved ones are frowned upon, and confined to personal locker space. Staff discount is an abysmal 10%, which is similar to the Customer Loyalty discount, which staffers may not apply to for. A number of cases of poorly accounted wages round-ups were reported there also.