Where to start?
First off, I started as a seasonal. The way management treats its seasonal hires was what turned me off from the beginning. The amount of turnover this store experiences is unbelievable. If you're a seasonal, be prepared to have your sales stolen from the established sales people. Management turns a blind eye to this. Favoritism runs rampant; I saw them give a $700+ prize that was meant to be for the top salesman of the holiday season to a favorite, established employee who came in 2nd in sales that quarter. The top salesman was a seasonal that was let go because management didn't like him. I saw this man give all of his effort to making the store profitable, becoming top salesman, just to be stiffed on a prize he deserved more than anyone in that store. This was disgusting and unethical.
This alone would be tolerable if one didn't have to deal with the management structure; Five managers in a store with only eight sales people. The amount of cognitive dissonance I experienced on a day-to-day basis was insane; Managers would often order employees to do things that would contradict what another manager said to do, and they would get borderline passive-aggressive when you hesitated to do something they directed because another manager told you to do something different. Management in this store has some serious communication, and ego-trip issues. I have never felt so disposable, unvalued and unappreciated. I would miss my breaks, because managers would tell me to wait untill they told me it was okay to go, then they would forget. I would remind them and they would become visibly annoyed, "you should have told me earlier, now I have no coverage!" "didnt you just take a lunch?" Everyday was a constant battle to not just drop everything, quit and walk out of the store. I was coached multiple times a day for such petty, arbitrary reasons. It was exhausting. I'm a hard worker that gave 110% every time I stepped into the store, and yet, management made it very difficult to do my job and make the company money. I could give more examples, but I think you get the picture.
Commission is laughable. Almost not worth the effort. Your hours are cut if you don't sell enough, then you don't sell enough because your hours have been cut. It can become a downward cycle.
Dont get me wrong, I was extremely fortunate to have a job during my finally year in university. I survived two job cuts where 75% of the store's workforce was let go. The head manager is an amazing, friendly and understanding. I owe my job to him. This does not, however, excuse how poor is subordinate managers treated me and the other seasonals.
