Public Storage Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – You work steady hours and I found it enjoyable to have both office and outdoor work.

Cons – Low wages, dead-end job. Generally speaking, I have noticed that in the storage industry you need to bounce around between companies in order to acquire new titles. Otherwise, I did not notice any in-house promotions. The property manager and relief manager positions are generally the same minus some direct responsibility by the latter.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay high wages to hold onto talent.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Public Storage full-time for less than a year

Pros – good company has a lot of storage

Cons – big company do not like purple

Advice to Senior Management – i dont like orange

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Lets see... for the pros. My coworkers for the most part were very hard working. They sacrifice so much and cared about their properties. They tried their very best to succeed. The one nice thing was that if you did your job well, they pretty much left you alone. All alone!

Cons – So many cons. Lets start with scripts. They come out with a new script ALL of the time. Sometimes we got a new script revised after one day.

Locks and insurance. Your bosses all up the line all bonus on them, If you are not good at sales, this job is not for you.

Short staffed. Never enough help for the properties that need it.

The company put a hold on all repairs at properties. Slowly the properties are getting run down. I was even told to do an unsafe act because the company was not willing to pay a vendor to come out to do a 5 minute repair job.

Upper Management is micromanaging every thing. It became confusing as to what our focus should be.

There are no career advancement possibilities for property managers. No matter how good you are, you will never move up. They took away our chance to get a bonus and accrue vacation time. That"s okay, being understaffed means never being able to use your vacation time.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat your Property and Relief Managers with respect. We are the ones working the trenches. Allow us to be ourselves when it comes to dealing with customers. We get farther when we can be friendly and unscripted. Reward the hard workers that at the end of the day are the reason that this company stays in business. We want to care.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The company offers a good base,opportunity for bonuses, PTO and benefits. There is some freedom to set your own daily schedule.

Cons – No ability to make managerial decisions, you become a corporate robot. There is an expectation to work from 7 am to 6 pm and 2 hours of computer work after hours. The company does not value it's employees and has a retention rate of 40%. The company cuts corners in every aspect of the business in order to drive the stock price no matter what the impact is to the employee or the customer

Advice to Senior Management – Take time to invest and listen to your employees. An empolyee that loves their job and their employeer will be more impactful to your business than the employee that is not respected and and feels disposable

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage full-time

Pros – Stable company, financially profitable, good benefits, accrued time off.

Cons – Extremely low 11$/hr pay for extensive duties expected, no time to use time off, flavor of the month type management with constantly changing expectations, extremely micromanaged and dictated on all levels. No real feedback or compromise allowed from employees. 40% employee turnover ratio for company. No room to grow within company if successful.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to feedback and performance improvement ideas from the ground level workers. Maintain positive environment that encourages and rewards success monetarily. Don't demand unrealistic sales goals. Shareholders' wishes should be balanced with employee needs and reality.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Public Storage full-time

Pros – - The pay is good
- Work independently
- Meet great people such as customers or/employees
- Can be active around the work place
- Gain experience in customer service and retail work.
- Offers a bonus for over meeting company expectations

Cons – - "Company expectations" (what ever it may be) is unrealistic
- Their pay dates are on specific days of the month, so the pay is never the same every month
- Upper management couldn't give a rats behind about you or what they are inflicting in your personal life. (Expects you to eliminate your personal life for the company)
- Expects you to drive to numerous locations with out compensating for mileage no matter the distance.
- Changes the bonus system when suitable for them, also it is unattainable.
- Does not have an anonymous compliance department even though they say it is anonymous .
- makes you work overtime but no overtime pay (asks you to work extra hours but tells you to eliminate hours from a different day so there isn't over 40 hours on you time by the end of the week or pushes your days off to the end of the week and make you work a 7 day stretch)
- the over turn rate between relief and property manages are ridiculous which ends up hurting the rest of the district when it boils down to coverage (which the lack of coverage is already existing)
- single coverage is majority of the work week (normally) and could even be the entire work week (expects you to do the work of 2 people by yourself).
- getting an approval to get something fixed in THEIR facility is like pulling teeth and even if it is approved, the job is less then inadequate so the object breaks down in less than a week.
- ridiculously micro-managed but can't provide us with updated technology.
I'm sure there is a lot more but I can't sit here and say it all, ill just get myself enraged.

Advice to Senior Management – Instead of cracking the whip on the relief and property managers, try to talk with them and take what they say in consideration. Not everyone of them are liars and some may even have great ideas on how to improve business, since they are the only ones who work with customers directly. PTO is what can help us deal with this job a little better, so put it back the way it was.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – PS operates with minimal labor hours and it continues to add locations so there is some job security from that viewpoint. If you need the secondary job in your family, need to live in a company residence, need a flexible schedule or enjoy the resident manager lifestyle the property manager or relief manager positions would be good for you. There is a 401K and group and other medical paid by the employee.

Cons – The job is more than challenging as requirements for how the PM operates including scripts is changing virtually daily from many in management.The property(s) you work can make a huge difference in working conditions. Generally speaking there is no additional pay for working an old no climate control property as oppossed to a modern, climate controlled and therefore much cleaner property. The size of the property and the level of activity can make a huge difference in working conditions.The property is a big influence as to whether or not or how much bonus money you make. Everyone is paid virtually the same no matter which property they work or how long they have worked for PS. There is no consideration for loyalty except additional paid time off after 5 and ten years. The group medical has essentialy a 4k deductible.

Advice to Senior Management – Change operations so Corporate, Division VP, Regional VP, Assistant Regional Manager, Senior District Manager and the District Manager are not all instructing what and how to do the job at the same time, often conflicting.Change is needed but employees are tired of the continous deluge. Emphasize as part of the business culture the positive restraint of power that comes with authority amoung management within a region.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage

Pros – It was a simple job, low level. Corporate structure seemed solid, promotion and training equally so.

Cons – any cons were on the technology side -- but I'm sure that's all changed by now.

Former Employee – worked at Public Storage full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Independent work environment. , you work alone 85 percent of time. No one hovering over you constantly hounding you.

Cons – Because u work alone you are the manager, sales rep, bill collector, janitor, handy man. Cleaning out storage units filled with abandon goods, picking up dead rats on the property. The pay is the equivalent to that of a fast food employee. $8 is the starting rate.

Advice to Senior Management – Ease up on all those real management type expectations. How can you expect someone to take the title manager serious if you only earn $8!!

Current Employee – been working at Public Storage full-time for less than a year

Pros – The option of a company apartment is a nice pro but good luck getting one.... the waitlist on them is very long! Most of the coworkers are very nice as well.

Cons – Ahh..... Where do I start?! Scripts, scripts, scripts and sell, sell, sell. That's all upper management ever says. There are literally 10-15 scripts to memorize.... and yes you will be tested on it and your bonus will depend on it... good luck being one of the 40% that even get a bonus though! Employees are also evaluated monthly on how many customers we can sucker in to buying a ridiculously overpriced lock and boxes. Any local hardware or home improvement store sells the same lock and boxes at a small fraction of the cost. But if we don't sell them, we are disciplined and it goes down in the record so they can ding your bonus. Oh and good luck taking vacation or personal time. Te company has restricted it so that in the summer months it's next to impossible to take a paid vacation with your family. They've "blacked out" several weeks where employees cannot use personal time. The company's we care slogan is totally bogus. Customers are deceived and tricked. Employees are instructed to quote you a low price over the phone and then tack all the extras (lock, insurance, merchandise) on when you get there which brings your move in total to nearly double what we quote you. Long time customers receive rent increases almost every 6 months. It is not uncommon to find a customer paying double or triple the going rate for a unit. It's a total bait and switch operation they have going. And if the manager tells you that break ins and flooding are not a common issue, it is a flat out lie. I've been with the company less than a year and I don't plan on making my one year review! Awful company to work for!

Advice to Senior Management – Employees that feel valued will work harder for a company that appreciates them and we as employees would appreciate not violating our consciences everytime we lie to a customer.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend