So, first post here. Been following the sub for a while and honestly, I’m not sure if this even belongs here as I am both semi-venting but also not really sure if there’s anything I can do about this.
So, I currently work in retail, in a large grocery chain as a clerk running the fuel station. I have been working there for a while now and am doing decently out there, low volume, decent hours. Standing all day is a pain but I am able to get at least 15 min of sitting or more depending when shifts are switched.
Now, as for inside the store: people have been quitting by the herds. We’re losing cashiers, department leads, assistant managers, all because of management and corporate breathing down on everybody’s necks over the most basic and mundane things that NO customer would reasonably notice, even if they bothered to look all while still giving crap pay with stingy wage increases. So now, since everybody is leaving in an Exodus, the remaining people are getting pressure to be crosstrained for jobs they didn’t apply for because the store needs stuff done still.
Enter my dilemma: I was told by my own supervisor that management would want me to be crosstrained for another position just in case they need me inside the store, but I’m already pushing back against that because I know the second I’m trained, there is no “just in case:” I’ll have to do it when they call on me. The thing is, according to them, I have no choice but to do this training but without extra pay, I have absolutely no incentive to subject myself to this other position in addition to my current one. For context, this new position would have me pretty much running back and forth inside the store and scanning certain items for pickups after having been standing in the gas station for almost a full 8 hour shift and my last hour would be that.
At this point, with management and the general atmosphere of retail from just this past year, I’m extremely tempted to tell them outright no, regardless of whether they’ll write me up or fire me, because in my mind, if they can barely afford to hire for the positions inside, they can’t lose more people outside as well. I don’t necessarily need this job, but it is super convenient as I save up for a new car because my state kinda makes having one more of a need and not a want and every other job that’s not walking distance would be better reached with a car. But the temptation is still there. Really, really strongly.