There are really no opportunities for professional advancement within the company. They do not promote within. None of our managers at any level were ever sales associates in the company. The highest you can be promoted to is quad leader which merits you longer shifts and more responsibility, but no better pay or benefits to you otherwise. This truly brings a lack of motivation among sales associates. Compensation wise, the pay is poor. Some people make minimum wage and some make more depending on what they've made at past jobs. Regardless it's never very much regarding the extremely large amount of work that you are required to do. This job really does require alot of work from you. It is tough. And often times it involves late nights. It isn't a job where you stand in one spot all day. You're constantly moving and it can be stressful on the body. Although some customers are a delight to meet and talk with, many are very rude and inconsiderate, sometimes dropping things right in front of you and not bothering to pick them up. Sometimes customers will let you know how they feel about the store's limited return policy or lack of a public restroom. Often times very little appreciation is shown when you assist customers. The 10% employee discount is the worst around and the zero tolerance no return policy discourages you from buying anything. If you aren't a manager you can't get direct deposit, much less any sort of benefits. There is an optional 6 month review in which you may receive a raise. The store I worked at was #1 in sales of the big box Forever 21 stores in the nation and our manager declared that no one deserved a raise after 6 months and we would have to wait for the 1 year mark. This is not motivation. This is discouraging. There is no praise for working hard, no incentive to keep going and no encouragement even for being #1 in the nation. The company only cares to make as much money as possible through keeping employee wages low and cutting hours based on the sales numbers, regardless of the time of year or conditions. If less money gets pulled in, hours get cut dramatically. Speaking of which, the scheduling is done very unprofessionally. Favoritism is often used to divvy up hours and you'll find managers punishing you by cutting hours if you call out once for a shift regardless if it is for a valid reason. You don't receive hours based on effort but on how much your manager likes you. Communication between different levels of the company is very poor (sales associates, visual merchandisers, stock, assistant managers, co-managers, etc,). The store manager tells us that we are all replaceable and rarely praises us for our consistent success as a store, making it a discouraging experience at times. Assistant managers are unprofessional and don't have a problem fighting with sales associates or writing them up for ridiculous reasons. Also, very little training is given by managers. You're left having to learn how to do the job yourself. When a store was set to open nearby, the employees were trained by me and my fellow associates, not by members of their management team. Once again this shows that the focus is not on the employees but only the money coming in.
