Unfortunately, the cons GREATLY outweigh the pros. GameStop TELLS you they want customer service to be the top priority, and then they overload the stores with inventory counts, store-to-store and company-to-store shipments, product representation counts, and marketing sets. The problem is further compounded if your District Manager or Regional Director decides to add on extra requirements and constant store layout changes.
Training at the store level is abysmal and is done using the "trial by fire" training method. This is especially true if you're brought in as a manager from outside the company. Many managers are trained without other managers even being present to help, leaving the trainee to figure things out on their own. Furthermore, no extra work hours are provided for training any new employees. You have to take the hours out of the store's weekly allotment, which leaves you trying to train a new employee under normal working conditions while being short-staffed.(you need an extra experienced employee on the floor while you train someone new).
None of this would be such a big deal if GameStop treated it's managers with any level of respect, paid a competitive wage for the amount of work that was expected, and most importantly provided the stores with enough hours to run properly, but they don't. Stores are barely given enough hours to function with a skeleton crew, much less be compliant with the basics such as meal breaks. Most of the time managers/assistant managers are forced to work the first five (sometimes SIX) hours of a day completely alone without the ability to take any kind of break whatsoever.
Just over the past year, there have been some other prime examples of the company's business practices...
-Running the manager's conference during a major game release, which left almost all the stores across the country short-handed, and then only providing many stores with ONE extra hour (literally to run a midnight launch which requires at least six to seven extra hours.
-Giving managers two-days notice that all strip-mall stores had to stay open three hours later on Christmas Eve, and then not providing the stores with any extra hours...pretty much forcing the salaried managers to be the only ones to work it.
-Slashing labor hours to the bare minimum for every store while telling the salaried managers that working 50 hours weeks was suddenly mandatory (the usual minimum is 44 hours per week).
...and these are just a handful of the many situations we've come across trying to run our store. It creates a very negative atmosphere when you can't even give your employees enough hours to keep them in good habits and the management team is overworked thanks to the lack of help.
