Before I started working at Zara and read all these negative reviews I thought they were exaggerations but upon getting a job there I can honestly say it’s no exaggeration at all, if anything these negative reviews are actually downplaying all the negative aspects of working at Zara. Zara is probably one of the worse places I had worked for in my life and I have worked at many places. Zara has the worse management I have ever seen. Management don’t appreciate the hard work you do, not matter how hard you work, it’s never enough for them. They never praise your performance and only criticize your supposed shortcomings that sometimes they seem to make up or inflate. While working on the floor you have to not only be standing for long hours but be constantly moving, you cannot stand still for even a second, because if a manager sees you in that second he/she will call out to you and tell you to fix something. So even if there is nothing to fix you have to keep moving and finds things to fix. You are forbidden to talk to your fellow employees while on the floor for even a split second. Again if a manager sees you he/she will call out to you. They (managers) are always watching you, even though they act like they are not. I always felt uncomfortable, as if my privacy was invaded and I could not even be myself. It’s like you are some kind of puppet and they want you to behave and look the way they want. Their level of strictness is ridiculous. I know every work place have to have some rules but they are really in a league of their own. They really think that by treating their employees that way they are going to have a much better working environment and increase profits, but they are wrong. No wonder employees don’t last there. It’s not good when employees don’t last in a work place, it only makes the company look bad. But hey they don’t care, since they are a multi-million dollar international company. But they need to understand that they got to that level because of us, their employees hard work and their customers who buy their products. The only reason Zara makes a lot of sales/money in the USA is because of tourist. Most people who go in there are tourists. They are conveniently located in 5th avenue, where tourists flock. Also you have to wear all black including the shoes and socks have to be back. The women have to wear make-up weather you like or not. Managers are not very friendly, most are cold and arrogant with few exceptions. The employees are not as friendly as other retail stores I worked at. Sure there are some who are nice but many are not, maybe is because of the stress of this place. After working a full day shift, at the end of the day you will be tired and you feel sore. They do work you a lot and for very low pay. The pay doesn’t make up for the level of strictness and hard work.
Again if you want to work at Zara go ahead, if you need a job really bad, but you won’t like it and probably won’t want to stay there long. There are many retail stores that are better place to work at. So I would advise to apply to others first and only work at Zara if you are desperate, starving or on the verge of getting evicted from your apartment.
