Pros
Working with Jos. A. Bank has allowed me to meet some of the most amazing people I have ever had the chance to work with. I was a Store Manager for two years, and in that time, I had a chance to build a unique team. The starting (and ending rate) for any JAB salesperson is minimum wage, so often what drew people to work at the store was a sense of desperation as much as anything else. However, it did allow me to truly build an almost eclectic and professional staff that I found met our business needs, and more importantly, we all indeed became family. I created, and for a good while, sustained a pleasant and fun working environment. I have read other reviews of JAB from similar people and if there seems to be a common thread for all pros, in that SM or ASM down, the people are pretty amazing, and often the only reason anyone showed up for work.
Cons
I apologize for the relative length of the following. In fact, I had to cut out over half of the essay to submit it. However, it is written from observation, employee and peer feedback, and experientially projected outcomes of current trends. Jos. A. Bank, like most retail and many employers, utilizes at-will employment. A reasonable employment standard for many, and for JAB it translates into "work ridiculously long hours for no compensation of recognition, for that is what you signed up for." A good friend and Store Manager from a neighboring store was required to work what is not called "Black Thursday" from 8pm to 2am closing, and then required to reopen at 5am for "Black Friday". As he had a 45-60 minute commute to work, he brought a sleeping bag to work and slept there, for he could not convince nor had access to additional management help to cover the essentially 25 hour stretch his store was required to be open. During the holiday season, our standard hours were 8am - 10pm, in a business environment where all other store closed at 7pm at the latest and the customers had all but hibernated for the evening. The week preceding Christmas, my store, as well as all other corporate-owned stores, was required to be open 6am-12am (18 hour stretch). I worked 90+ hours on salary, as well as had three other managers working 45-60 hours a week depending on status. Needless to say, I burnt them out and all quit or stepped down from the role not more than a month after the season had ended. I was able to hire a new keyholder and we pounded through the summer with similar hours. She performed some actions on the job that were blatantly outside company policy, and she was consequently terminated, I was again put in the position of working 80+ hours a week, open to close, 7 days a week. I lasted for five weeks before I made the decision to resign. I resigned not because I am not a hard-worker or was not a good manager. I am both to the utmost degree. I had to leave because JAB simply refused to give me the resources to allow me to do my job in the manner that not only was required, but that I deemed necessary to a successful business, despite repeated requests for help and resources. Despite multiple interviews for assistant managers, none seemed interested in the 9.50/hr the company was offering (a reminder that this is for a management role). Help and assistance was repeatedly asked for and of from my district manager, but he routinely refused, perhaps out of personal stubbornness, but certainly out of company policy, a policy set by directors that will do anything and everything for a customer (an admirable and necessary trait in any industry) while exploiting its employees on all levels to squeeze an extra dime out of all pockets while lining theirs. Within the company, there is opportunity to work hard and move up quickly, but done with an understanding that the hours increase, the relative pay decreases, and the recognition disappears. There are those who would say that this how the corporate world works, or at least how most retailers work. However, I have spoken with many customers who were excellent employers and maintained a culture of respect and recognition within a overworked, debt-laden, profit-driven world. In fact, I now work for one of my former customers. I have built good sales teams and have run my business well, and within JAB, I tried to rise above the culture that I realized I lived and worked in by being better, by being an example of fairness and decency to my staff. I recognized that if we were not going to be paid a fair wage for the work asked, then we were going to have fun doing it in a energetic and professional manner. Claiming to offer unparalleled service and product and then refusing to give the employees who execute said concepts the resources to make that happen will result in failure on all sides. The valued customer, which during my tenure I literally broke my back for, sees through the thin veil of failed marketing, the confused faces of ill-trained and poorly paid associates, the stacks of cheap merchandise harshly lit under flickering fluorescent and priced to fit a maddening discount scheme, looks into his or her wallet, and in a poor economy realizes that their money is better spent elsewhere, or ultimately not at all. My employment with Jos. A. Bank has garnered a collection of powerful lessons and provided a catalyst for the manner in which I conduct my future business. Who I choose to work for, who I choose to work with, and what I choose to do for my customers. I move forward with a positive attitude and a sense of consummate professionalism. I hope that if anyone has the choice to work or continue working for Jos. A. Bank, that the right choice is made, and that you make it for yourself, and that this writing may aid in that choice.