I work for a pollutive fast fashion big name department store. The job was pretty solid- i made a buck over minimum wage in my area, and i have 30-40 hour weeks. my particular location happened to be the most successful one in the district, almost in the country. We sold the most, signed the most credit cards, fulfilled the most online orders, etc.
But, out of nowhere, company doubles down and decides that the numbers weren't good enough this time, and everyone's hours are cut. drastically. all across the district. i no have 15-19 hour weeks. Absolutely nobody can live on that. And there's not a damn thing i can do, unless i want to find another retail job that'll pay less and will just overall be worse.
I'm frustrated, because i wish this was illegal. I wish companies couldn't fuck over their workers when customers don't wanna buy as much- or something. Everybody needs money to live, and it's not our fault some rich asshole didn't make record profits this time.
I'm also frustrated with myself, bc i don't qualify for anything other than retail. I'll always be poor because America allows this industry to underpay its workers. Once upon a time, retail paid enough for an individual to buy a DAMN HOUSE. i cant get even get a shoebox for less than 1 grand…