I'm sick of working retail. [View all]

[FreshStart1]

I'm 26 and going back to college so I can actually get a real job.
I've worked retail, in various places since I was 16, off and on between that and selling on eBay.

One of the biggest things that pisses me off about retail, is the closed loop way CEO's and upper management runs a company anymore.

You see, back then, I noticed a lot of stores had little comment cards people could fill out and put in a bin. Some stores actually read these, if enough people asked for say..a certain flavor of cheese, soda, etc, the store would obtain some to sell.

Feedback in retail seems to be absolutely dead, I've witnessed countless times how a store quits selling a flavor of something, or a fast food restaurant discontinues a particular sandwich, despite TONS OF PEOPLE getting pissed off they did that.

Just try leaving feedback anymore. It's usually buried somewhere at the bottom of the page, and you will get a nice little "we will pass these comments along". Hate to break it, but no one reads these. They are just a form to feel out to make the customers feel like they did their part.

Anymore, the store THINKS it knows what people want. This never works. This is why countless businesses have gone bankrupt. All thanks to the stubbornness of upper management.

I've actually have held conversations with district managers and regional vice presidents. I will say something along the lines of "a lot of customers wish we had this, or did this". It falls on deaf ears, 100% of the time.

Retail has turned into a very toxic work environment because of how bad the culture is anymore. People are highly replaceable, and as such, get treated with little respect. There is no loyalty unless maybe your a general or district manager. I noticed a lot of places have done away with the pins you get when you have worked there so many years.

Stores are no longer investing in their employees, taking advice from customers, or really doing much in the way of improving. They try to get away with paying people as little as possible and countless large corporations have ended up under lawsuits for violating labor laws.

If you factor in how many people get paid less than $10/hr, and how rent has doubled not keeping up with inflation, and how people live paycheck to paycheck, it really is no more or less than legalized slavery.

Tons of Americans have very little left over after paying their bills. Maybe enough to go out to eat somewhere. Nothing to save, nothing to invest.