Dishonest hiring practices where wages and raises are promised and 99% of the instances proposed are never made into fruition. Incompetent, unprofessional and developmentally arrested upper management and corporate employees/executives. Nepotism is abundant and public relations is carefully guarded, media is manipulated and mission statements are nothing more than lies. An extremely small fraction of profits actually go to “mission statement”. Numbers that support their façade are manufactured within their vast corporate structure. The last six months I worked at a location that featured a “employment office” and “classroom” ( a 8x8 foot windowless room). There was ESL classes offered and jobs (manual labor) offered for those in need. I have never met a single person who got a job through the “Job Connections” (it was an unoccupied office 85% during hours of operation. For one month during a two year span, was ESL offered at that location. The only participants were recruited from the worker pool. The community didn’t know about it. When I worked there, I was promised a raise for my good attendance and dedication. I made minimum wage for three years. They don’t fail to mention that the “raises” only come when the state minimum wage goes up. I was made to train 27 employees during my employment with Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette, and many times in a second language. Workers are taken an advantage of, made to work schedules against the good of their well-being and well-being of their families. Disabled employees are paid less for equal work. Workers are held emotionally hostage, we are constantly told that “we are like a family” in order to “step up” profits. Morale is always low, with drug addiction and mental illness run rampant. As for benefits, they are not affordable and many must make grave sacrifices to procure them. Healthcare is Kaiser Permanente, at nearly $90 a month while every visit is a 20-45 dollar co-pay and prescriptions are at minimum $17 each. Healthcare is a luxury no one can afford, so sickness is prevalent. Almost every employee is on public assistance, everyone needs SNAP benefits who works full-time on the floor or in production who isn’t a manager, of which there are usually one to every seven regular workers. Major Miscommunication is an everyday occurrence with blame laid on workers who have no agency over matters implied. Disabled employees are shamed and essentially brainwashed into believing they don’t deserve better. Immigrant employees are exploited to their core. Employees are held to unrealistic productivity goals which are never met, which lowers morale considerably each day and ensues interpersonal conflicts at every turn. Once management knew of my own health issues, I was being persuaded into subscribing to the idea that I would never find a better job. I left Goodwill after an active shooter fired a gun and killed someone in the location I was working that day. We were docked pay for the time lost at the point of the gunshot, and lost wages due to the store being the point of investigation. We were offered our regular shift the following day at other Goodwill locations. We were on the ground, fearing for our lives one minute, and the next day asked to work our shifts in an unfamiliar location. I will never forget how i saw the world differently after Goodwill. I will always strive for transparency, my hard work ethic will not falter and I will be kind to people and not classist, manipulative and cruel the way Goodwill does for it’s community members. Please take heed.
