I’ve had enough of my current job and contemplating quitting so I’ve decided I’m going to explain what’s really going on at my job. There is a lot of information here so bare with me. I'm not going to indirectly say where I work but judging by my terminology, some of you will know where I work. I’m also doing this all on my phone so I’m sorry if it’s messy.
I’m a 22 year old male currently working at a very popular store chain across the United States. You can find this company in every state with its iconic red color scheme. I worked here before during the holiday time about 3 years ago in 2019 and I had a great time. The team was quite close with one another. The break room was always loud because all the employees would be chatting about there day. I was honestly sad when they released me because I was leaving a place I sincerely enjoyed working at. I’ve tried getting this job back before many times since they always say they’re hiring but it was no luck. Now that I’ve returned, the store has gone in the complete opposite direction from what it once was. Isles are a mess, employee morale has plummeted, leaders cutting corners, extremely understaffed, messy back rooms, etc.
I work in the electronics department mainly as a night time closer but I open every know and then. My job consist of me finishing off what the opener couldn't finish during their shift. Being the opener 3 years ago was pretty chill. Usually you and your colleagues would go immediately into pulling the priorities out of the back or going into the “truck” and pushing out what was delivered to the store. Usually as the opener, you and your buddies would get most of it done while still back stocking and helping guest at the same time. We would just chat and do our work and the day would go by fast and things would get done. The closers would then come in and finish off the truck push and pull any remaining priorities that would be left since it adds and refreshes over time. Now all that seems fine and dandy but that's not the case anymore
Everything I’ve described above is 10 times worse in my department. You don't have any help anymore, just yourself to take care of all of electronics. Since theft was increased during the pandemic, everything requires some kind of security now. All high value items are now moved to the very back to the lock up instead of it being on the floor. This includes Apple products, consoles, etc. This is understandable, but they have gone way too over board with what needs security. For example, every single phone case or some kind of phone accessory needs a security case now. This infuriating because we receive so many phone cases that we simple do not have enough security boxes for every single one. This leads to us back stocking way too many phone cases which we then have to pull back out because they show up on our priority pulls. The thing that is really upsetting is the no help. You alone are required to cover the entire electronic section in your store. You are required to push everything by yourself, unlock items for guest, unlock items for coworkers (since they do not have keys to open the locks), run to the back to retrieve items for guest (we no longer can give guest locked items unless they pay for it at electronics), answer guest questions, zone the entire electronics area, answer phone calls for electronics, consult with guest, back stock everything that has been sorted by yourself from the entire truck pull, and more! Its completely unrealistic what our leads expect us to achieve in one full shift by ourselves.
This is a insanely large problem for not just the guest but our colleagues working as well. The employees working on drive up orders are trying to find items that say we have on our devices but are not out yet on the floor because we simply haven't got around to pushing the truck. Currently our truck is 4 days behind and every time I come in we have to play catch up. If I get really lucky and don't get called then I can manage but that's never the case. Also, remember how I explained the opener tries to get as much as possible done before the closer comes in? That doesn't happen anymore. Basically I have to do the openers job since they can't manage to get anything done.
I've expressed my frustrations to leads and my main boss and nothing has been done about it. When telling my main boss about it, she assured me that more people are going to be scheduled together soon which was a lie. I was alone as the closer for Black Friday which was stressful and a nightmare to handle on your own. My body ached since I didn't get any of my breaks except for a lunch. My shift was 1:30 – 10:00 by the way. Now that we are passed Black Friday, still nothing has been done about scheduling or any kind of solutions to the electronics department problem.
I can keep going on and on about this problem but I've left a lot of information for you guys to read. If you guys have any questions please ask below in the comments. I don't know what I'm going to do about work but I might just quit tomorrow.