River Island reviews

3.5

56% would recommend to a friend

(2,965 total reviews)

Ben Lewis

64% approve of CEO

41% positive business outlook

River Island has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 2,965 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The River Island employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Ventas al mayoreo y al menudeo industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
3.0
Nov 17, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

50% Staff Discount (Head Office only)

Cons

Junior levels are treated like dirt, there is 0 training provided, 0 career progression, 0 benefit (aside from staff discount) and 0 anything positive. Senior levels to blame and almost take joy in watching the junior levels be so unhappy. I ran out of fingers to be able to count the amount of times I'd see girls running off crying.... the pressure that's being put on people to deliver what isn't sometimes possible is ridiculous. A lot of the buyers act as if they have a sense of privilege, as if because they were that level once they can treat anyone how they want; instead of changing the narrative, being the buyer/merch they didn't have. Let's not forget we're only choosing clothes for others to buy...not saving the world. Training doesn't exist, let's start explaining the 'why' behind racks being pulled, the why behind colour splits or ratio sizing and not just saying 'take 5% cost price reduction' every time something goes a week late. Also, if salary is important to you, just remember the pay is awful and even at the very top you'll be lucky to make £100k a year.

3.0
Nov 3, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Uniform allowance and easy interview.

Cons

Was really excited to start as it was my first job, but after a few days I absolutely hated it. Training was rubbish and very rushed. Training was about 2 hours. I was till trained for about 10 minutes then left on my own and couldn’t see anyone on the shop floor to help. Was clueless most of the time and when I asked a question they didn’t want to help. Ended my contract after 9 days (4 weeks) hardly anytime to settle in but I struggled to as I felt so unwelcome. So glad they did. Was miserable whenever I was there.

1.0
Jan 13, 2020

Worst head office EVER.

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Discount - You make good friends through bonding over shared mental health issues bought on by the company

Cons

- Toxic and negative environment (this is even present in heads of buying/managers) - Mental health issues are everywhere in this place, over 10 members of the womens buyer floor were signed off with stress caused by work in 2019 and nothing is being done about it. (in fact buyers hide it from HR and get away with it) - Lack of support- no support from management to lower level staff and also lack of support on the buying floor in general. No one is happy to help each other causing a negative environment - No proper promotion system causing promotions to be unfair and unbalanced. It seems management get promoted and pay rises but lower members of staff are told 'there's no budget for you' but expected to do the work. - Manipulative buyers who rely on design to do all of the work and take the credit - bad pay - Hanger Lane is just the worst location to work - Bullying culture. If a buyer doesnt like you, she will bully you until you leave. - The buyer I worked with was lazy, she was not inspirational, barely did any work and sat on Dailymail all day taking credit for the work the rest of the team had done. - Blame culture is very evident here

Viewing 19 - 21 of 2,965 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,205 River Island reviews submitted anonymously by River Island employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if River Island is right for you.