i'm seeing this employment trend a lot online and it's the same where i work: we're constantly understaffed but manage to keep breaking sales goals. i'm certain our boss is after a bonus and pat on the head from his higher-ups and being below budget is how he's going to get it. he's way too excited about the numbers to not be personally gaining from them (we get freezies). of course, it only works if he stretches everyone and everything dangerously thin.
the manager in the warehouse goes above and beyond constantly and is never taken seriously, getting band-aid solutions at best. she's recently stopped going above and beyond and has started 'working to rule' basically and i'm behind her 110%. if she left, this place would fall apart. i truly believe she's that crucial. the biggest issue in the warehouse is that there's no room. there used to be an illusion of room because we broke health and safety guidelines, putting things where they technically shouldn't be to get by. working to rule, everything's according to regulation and is now jumbled together in a mess that's become everyone's problem.
one of the store managers i actually like was in the back all day today processing boxes of shoes with a few other employees while also handling her usual business (this is why i like her). the backstock of shoes had to have been taking up about 30% of all the usable space in the warehouse and it didn't just come out of nowhere. we're chronically understaffed, we get shipments every day, there's nowhere for this shit to go, the only solution is scheduling more people to process it. i think mr bonus boy should have been doing it. and no, not coming to the back for ten minutes or long enough for a photo op, then going back to his office. he should be processing shoes all day in addition to his regular duties and feeling the same pinch as everyone else. of course, this will never happen.
i was supposed to be in training today and, granted, life happens and you've got to be flexible on the job, but i kept getting pulled in all directions at once. many times today i had to leave tasks undone because something came up and nobody was available (and, like, i wasn't either), but apparently i had to pick up the ball. i wasn't even able to go back to any of them, it was legit one thing after another.
the problem with this is that things don't get done if nobody is around to do them. it's a pretty simple concept and what lead to a mountain of shoes and even more mountains of clothing that need to be sorted and hung that are just sitting in that warehouse. it's short sighted and irresponsible.