Pros
I love my job at Old Navy. I work with a diverse group of co-workers and customers, and I have had great experiences in my time spent working in this company that really treats you like you're family. When you work at Old Navy, you also get to take advantage of the Gap Inc. employee discount program and the smorgisboard of discounts on products and services on anything from cellphone service to rental cars. For managers, working at Old Navy is a great career and the ones I have dealt with are very empathetic and hard working. Old Navy also offers tuition reimbursement, and a great accelerated management program to college graduates within the company. And to top it off, part time employees receive paid holidays. Old Navy has great energy and clothing that the customer base is genuinely excited about and loyal to.
Cons
Because management is such a great career at Old Navy, the turnover rate is small and sales associates like myself have a difficult time finding ways to move up within the company. Management has been less than great at giving me recognition for my performance. I am in the top 5 in best performance for 2010 in a store of 50 employees. I haven't even been chosen as employee of the month and I have worked there almost two years. The regional manager is over the top and her expectations are insane. She drops by our store at the worst times and damages the morale of our leadership team, which translates to the rest of the staff and makes everything bad. The company has rigid goals for Old Navy credit card acquisitions, but that is par for the course in retail. I also find that the company hires tons of seasonal people every summer and winter and they have many employees who work once every week or month just to stay in the system. Employees like myself, who rely on Old Navy as their primary source of income, and actually enjoy their job, thus putting effort and importance on it, are overlooked and under scheduled.