Pros
I worked in the arndale. -flexible shifts so if you was to finish college or university you could go and do a 4/5 hr shift after eg 5pm-9pm - the earliest shifts tend to start around 7am-4pm and the latest is at 12pm-9pm( sometimes it goes to 1pm-10pm during peak trade like christmas) unless you work in the stockroom so hours may vary - a great place for individuals who are around the ages of 17-25 as majority of the people are at that age so you can get along and make good friends. People relate and know the struggles of working in retail so most staff are friendly and happy to help you if you need assistance. -everyday is different, because you are working in the city centre you see different things
Cons
-so much favouritism by managers, if you are close or have a close relationship with managers ( you don’t have to necessarily be good at your job to be a favourite) you can get away with a lot but if you are not as close you can be bullied or be treated unfairly - the pay is awful minimum wage, if you are under 18, its £5 an hr, between 18-21 you get £7.49 and then anything over is £10. Its annoying because you’re doing the exact same as everyone else but getting paid less -unfair balance that you’re not allowed to talk to colleagues on their section however managers will stand huddled talking -they use punishment tactics, if you call in sick one day, they will stop giving you extra shifts or treat you unfairly to make you feel guilty. If you are a management favourite however, you’re most likely to get as many shifts as you want at whatever times - the staffroom is always dirty, people do not know basic hygiene - so much sexism. It is hard enough as it is to work in a place with only male customers. Footasylum does offer a lot of online training but does not have training to deal with customer harassment. Me and many colleagues have dealt with sexual harassment and verbal harassment multiple times and a lot of people, especially younger staff, do not know how to cope or what to do. What is more worse is that the male staff are also very sexist. I have heard countless times of male staff saying degrading and immature things about the female staff. It makes all female staff feel uncomfortable in the environment - can be very slow on week days, you’re expected to not talk to anyone througuout the shift but youre not given many tasks to do so youre just stood there