1.) They are always hiring

If they are always hiring, they’re always firing.

Companies that see employees constantly come and go more often than not means that the job is not good for the long-term or for a serious career.

This is because rather the nature of the job is not worth the pay and benefits and people are leaving on their own, or because corporate is constantly firing people to hire on new people that won’t need to be paid as much. It could also be the result of toxic management firing employees that could potentially do their jobs better than they could, and the management is trying to get rid of their competition.

Now, there can also be cases where the corporation will frequently fire new employees due to them not being a good fit for the job or for being genuinely bad employees, but if this consistently happens then it’s a good sign that the better and more qualified employees have already found better work elsewhere.

2.) The majority of their workforce are young students or retirees

With the rising costs of living, people naturally require more money to just be capable of sustaining themselves.

However, if a place mostly hires young adults or students, and on the other hand retirees, this is a sign that the job is not a career option.

This is because employees that are not in need of providing their own living, or already have their finances in order (such as students and retirees) are very much so appealing to companies looking to hire on the cheapest labor possible while providing minimum hours so that they don’t have to pay benefits to any of their employees.

That, and with numerous part-time associates working for you, you can easily have replacements ready in case people decide to quit or when people call in sick. This is another sign that the company has high turnover.

3.) The pay is minimum wage

In the words of comedian Chris Rock,

“I used to work at McDonald's making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss was trying to say? ‘Hey if I could pay you less, I would, but it's against the law.’”

In some cases, companies that only give minimum wage for their jobs aren’t making good money themselves, and it’s a good sign the business is less likely to succeed in the future (which means you’ll also be out of a job).

Yet in cases where you’re getting paid minimum wage by a multi-million/billion dollar corporation, they only provide minimum wage or close to their employees often only care about maximizing profits for themselves.

It doesn’t matter how good of an employee you are, or how much hard work and extra hours you put into your job. At the end of the day, the actual value of your work is mostly going to the executives and shareholders; not you. And the moment you’re not longer “profitable” for them, they will get rid of you without any hesitation.

So the moment you and your other “newer” employees get your pay raises, don’t be surprised if your company starts hiring on a whole bunch on new people, you all suddenly stop getting shifts, and you all start getting written up far more often.

4.) The workplace is riddled with nepotism

Have you ever walked into a store and found that the majority of the staff all seem to be of the same race or ethnic background?

Have you ever been surprised when every employee you find at a job seem to all know someone else in a higher position in the job? Even the lower end or entry-level positions?

This is a big sign that the workplace is not hiring based off the most qualified employees; only those that they have favouritism for. This also means that employees that are causing problems or are not qualified for their positions will keep their jobs regardless due to their connections, which will inevitably cause problems for the company later on.

5.) Bad employees somehow still keep their jobs

How is it that the employee(s) that clearly aren’t good at their jobs or have enough write-ups to make a phone book still somehow keep their jobs?

Honestly, it could be due to the any of the previous reasons mentioned. Sometimes numerous reasons at once.

The worst part is that bad employees will also take advantage of any of the previous red flags above to create job security for themselves.

Think about it; if the company can’t keep most of their employees, or the bad employee has a big connection with a higher-up in the company, even bad employees will be able to keep their jobs because of how the higher-ups deem them necessary for their position.

However, bad employees will inevitably cause more problems for the company later on once the problems of these bad employees leak out and cause irreversible damage to the company. Yet because the company deems them “irreplaceable”, that means that the punishment will be dished out among other employees; even the good ones that have no right to be punished.

This is an early sign that the company is doomed to make major mistakes in the future and even go out of business. Even worse, it will be the other employees that don’t have the connections or power the bad employees have that will face the consequences instead.