Recently I read an article with ratings of highest to lowest job satisfaction in various careers. I am not sure if it was indeed.com, or glassdoor or another online source. But low and behold, the lowest rated was sales. Sales which of course includes, retail sales.
I began my career in this field in the 1970’s working at Macy’s. It was a wonderful experience back then. Since that time, it appears the work has become stressful, instead of fun. Its gotten to the point that locally in Virginia where I live, Macy’s is advertising to hire you even if you have a criminal background!?! The last time I worked there was 2018, through the Christmas holidays. The experience for me, an older lady was unbearable. I had a “20-something” lead who would stand there in the morning or at the end of the night looking at her iPad when I was doing all the physical work of taking jewelry trays out to the cases or putting them back in the vaults. It was exhausting, especially when you work at night and then have to come in the next morning. The only job worth having in a department store in my experience is in Cosmetics.
The reason we leave these jobs is partly due to the pay rates. It is impossible to earn enough money to live on. In addition, hourly rates are not set but subjectively determined by your prospective department head. In retail, your experience is irrelevant especially if you appear older. The hours are too flexible with no continuity from one week to the next because the hours are created by the computer. What happened to set hours? Such as MWF or T Th and one or two weekend days for part-timers?
Most recently, I was working for JJill. A job filled with exhausting, unbearable tasks unrelated to helping the customer. No matter how many hours you work, unless you are the manager or a “lead,” you are “running around like a chicken without a head.” You work from the time you walk in the door until the time you leave. You spend your time steaming clothes, throwing out the garbage, vacuuming, dusting and any other task they can think of, even mopping the backroom floor! During your training, you are micromanaged and watched to see where you are and what you are doing. Again, this is regardless of how much experience you have under your belt in retail.
Next time I will introduce you to the worst job I have ever had which was in Customer Service at QVC. Hard to believe it could be worse than what I have already presented here.