I came across a series of blog posts titled “Confessions of a Retail Worker” – a continuing series about the worklife of low-paid, non-managerial staff in the Retail industry. These short diaries are sad and funny at the same time, and the events and thoughts ring true for those of us who are or have been in Retail Hell.
Some of my favorite quotes from the diaries:
In our facility, air conditioning and heat in the largest spaces are usually not turned on until Senior Management starts coming in the for the day.
One of my coworkers cries and hides in a stockroom for the entire break period. Another had a nervous breakdown and is in therapy because the stress of the work got to him.
We’ve never met anyone from Human Resources, because Human Resources is run out of another state. Our performance review is based on a computer generated set of statistics that have absolutely no relation to how effective we are.
A brave Peon dared ask about wages. Gasp. Was told that the approximately $8/hr that Peons earn is more than fair…. Other Manager reminded us how lucky we were to work for such an Outstanding Company, and that our sales and statistics continue to improve.
Now that regional has left, Corporate is coming! Corporate is coming!
We don’t know our schedule: it’s subject to change at any time, therefore, we don’t know what our paychecks are going to look like either.
This diary is way shorter than I planned, because our schedules came out with about 36 hours of notice. I’ve been notified that I’m scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Sound familiar?