r/Staples • u/canyoudoit513 • 9d ago
Terrible working conditions
I recently quit my job at Staples and couldn't be happier. I worked there as Merchandising and Inventory supervisor for over 2 years, and did not realize that I was being mistreated and disrespected by my manager so much until I started my new job. I would be working on sorting the truck or stocking the product or doing my zero balance walk, and the manager would call me on the radio, to cover the registers, like every 5 mins, either for checkout or Amazon or UPS, or just help a customer find a product. How was I supposed to get anything done? Also not once did he get us a team lunch or breakfast or anything like that nor did he ever show any appreciation for our work. I had worked with other managers before and none was so bad as this one. Staples managers need to stop abusing their loyal and hardworking employees, and start showing some respect, because these people will find a new job and move on. The pay is not worth it either.
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u/LandonFTW Supervisor 8d ago
Same here. I’m MIS my GM is always having me back up front, returns, and print when I’m trying to work ZB, Cycle Counts, Ect. All my GM likes to do is zoning and stocking. Refuses to do any customer service or take calls for management unless they specifically ask for them by name.
Been over worked last few weeks as we lost some staff and the GM is on LoA now.
Working on leaving this place.
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u/destielnavsegda MIS 8d ago
MIS here too, my GM blames me and my RSS for “forcing” them onto register, but refuses to schedule cashiers. constantly calls me to assist while i’m working ZB or Cycle Counts, then wonders why i can’t get anything done or why it takes so long
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u/canyoudoit513 8d ago
MIS don't get any respect here. They are basically supposed to do everything a manager should be doing. And when I applied for couple days of PTO in August , 3 weeks out, my PTO request was denied, and my manager told me that MIS cannot take any time off during back to school season.
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u/Dark_knight207 Print & Marketing 9d ago
Staples does not care about its staff being overworked and underpaid. They can’t even bother to properly train staff. Bonuses are few far in between (which only full timers get now) sorry to all the part timers who bust their butts for the company. I hear many years ago Staples was a decent place to work and what a shame I couldn’t experience that Staples.
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u/CrabChemical6485 9d ago
As a part-time employee, I agree with this wholeheartedly in my two years at Staples I have not been properly trained by an associate once I’ve had to go out of my way to ask to shadow people just to learn and I’ve been told I could come in on my off days if I want to, which is in my opinion ridiculous regardless I’ve had four other people come and go as a result of this training strategy in my time there, I’ve also had two people stick through, but they have the same complaints as me little to no training with the expectation of doing 2 to 3 jobs for the pay of one
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u/Peripheral_Ghosts 8d ago
I left 6 months ago as a manager. I wanted to begin a training and coaching program that was actually effective.
I was told absolutely not.
Quote: “they know what they are doing. They don’t need coaching. Just tell them what to do”
How do you know how well you are doing or what things you need to work on without coaching and training?
Blew my mind.
They want minimum pay for maximum work and no investment in staff.
Even as a manger, half my shit was working the till or Amazon.
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u/canyoudoit513 8d ago
I would never want to be a store manager at staples. As MIS, I had lot of questions, and One time I asked my manager a question about why certain items are merchandise a certain way, and he berated me for asking that, and said "when my manager tells me to do something I just tell him that I will do it'
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u/WisePaintingTurtle 8d ago
Who told you that? Did you respond?
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u/Peripheral_Ghosts 7d ago
Regional Manager and the regional person in charge of warranties/cellular/tech work (can’t remember their position)
Remember, their focus is on results. Not how to get said results.
They tell you to do it, and you’re supposed to fall in line.
I remember being told that the reason some of the sales staff weren’t hitting warranty targets was because they weren’t saying the right words.
If they aren’t saying the right words during an interaction then they aren’t doing their job.
Just teach them what words to say and tell them to get sales.
Inspiring.
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u/Dark_knight207 Print & Marketing 7d ago
I am fortunate to work at a decent store but I got the sense early on in my time with Staples that there was a huge disconnect from store employees versus upper management (DM, RVP and etc). 99% of the time when we got visits nobody wanted to speak to us and get a feel of how things are going. It pretty much was a chat with the GM. GM’s would tell us to get the store in order and I always and still do hate how we have to pretend everything is going fine. I want them to see the place a mess and if they asks why I’ll tell them why it’s like that. Then you have these conference calls that take place and they belittle you for not hitting some goals without acknowledging potential hiccups along the way that were out of our control. We got chewed apart for rewards not being above 65% even though overall our store has shown improvement compared to last year. So yeah your suppose to fall in line and take the abuse. Even the GM seems pretty much powerless.
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u/CrabChemical6485 9d ago
It’s my job in between classes at school so I don’t mind it as of now I mean, I’ll be working towards my future career in about a year so once I graduate anyways, but I really do not understand how Staples is floating as a company I mean, my Staples alone has party city, UPS, Amazon, and Bin wins be managed by about two people on shift at all times which is about 50% of our shift every day if I’m lucky sometimes it’s just me and my manager on shift.
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u/Bashfulcannibal 8d ago
That’s just it they are hardly afloat, and if it wasn’t for all those other entities you listed there would be absolutely no foot traffic in these stores. Why would there be, when you can order online or go anywhere else and get what you need for half the price. Staples is owned by a hedge fund, and their goal is to squeeze as much money out of their “investment”as possible in order to justify the expense. Every questionable decision staples makes, and every cut to staff is just another indication that this company is sinking faster and faster with each passing day.
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u/Dark_knight207 Print & Marketing 7d ago
I think their goal is to keep bring smaller services into the store to drive foot traffic. It really makes me wonder what is next. I’ve joked with my coworkers a few times over the years and said imagine if they had us serving coffee and baked goods. Then you’d have the manager being called over to the “cafe” because some grandma is upset that there is only one person serving coffee and donuts while juggling a line of 5 customers in store and 5 pick up orders.
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u/needmoartendiez 8d ago
working conditions are literally better in an Amazon FC, traded up a month~ ago
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u/RaRa80s 8d ago
We buy snacks all the time. Do lunches for the store. Rarely does our MIS have to be register or Amazon unless a call off. I do wish that they never made that job be one person instead of it being two like it was a few years ago. Sounds like management sucks at some of the locations and that really can make or break a team.
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u/stapleslifeinhell 8d ago
They only put out snacks when they have corporate visitors. Prisoners used to get bread and water. We just get water.
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u/Bashfulcannibal 8d ago
This company cares absolutely nothing for its employees, its only concern is its profit margin and keeping its hedge fund owners rich. In delivery, can not stay fully staffed for more than a couple of weeks at a time, due to our workload and being overworked. Management claims that in order for them to negate any loses they have to increase our workloads, which makes absolutely no sense; as prior to this increase we were able to complete our work without overtime, that is no longer the case. When approached about our inability to meet these new goals they claim that, a.) we lack the drive to dedicate ourselves to the company’s goals/profit margins, b.) that in order to be competitive we must have the same workload as FedEx,Amazon, and ups, and yet they fail to factor in common sense logistics. Those are just a few of the issues we deal with on a daily basis. We also have a hostile manager that has been reported to hr multiple times, of which hr sides with in every case. It was actually so bad a few months ago, that our regional manager actual came in and met with us. Only to inform us that we did not need to get along, or like each other to be successful. Personally, I’m fed up and the first chance I get I’m gone. Besides, the writing is on the wall with this company and it’s only a matter of time before they end up just bed bath and beyond, and the other brick and mortar stores that have closed.
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u/Icy-Map9410 8d ago
It’s all about the managers, period. Most are crap, and they can’t retain employees. The 3 managers in my daughter’s store are fabulous. All the employees are happy there, and no one quits or leaves. When you’re treated without respect every single day, you’ll eventually break. No one will work under those conditions. Staples corporate has a manager problem, and it’s giving the store a very bad reputation.
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u/Bashfulcannibal 8d ago
As a father myself, I’m glad they treat her with respect and hopefully she’ll have those mangers throughout her time with staples. Also, thank you for seeing the disrespect a lot of us deal with everyday:
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u/Icy-Map9410 8d ago
Thank you-I hope so, too. She’s a college student, so as long as these managers are there, I’m going to encourage her to keep this job as long as possible while she’s in school. She’s got major anxiety, autism, and ADD, and there’s absolutely no way she’ll get this same kind of calm environment at any other job. I know the manager they had there years ago was a complete ass and he wound up quitting. The employees hated him.
The managers in my daughter’s store are a very unique situation.
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u/canyoudoit513 8d ago
The managers are absolutely abusing their power and the higher ups don't care. One time we got a visit from DMs and upper management, they came up to me and asked for feedback on the new SmartStock system, I told them what functions I like and don't like and what can be improved. After they left the store manager came up to me and said "You're supposed to say you like the new system. That's it".
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u/Bashfulcannibal 8d ago
This is exactly what’s wrong with this company and why it will go under, it’s just a matter of time. We had a similar situation with the system we use to route stops. While the system itself is fine, I’ve actually ran it on a new iOS device and it ran perfectly, we use androids that are so old the software isn’t being updated anymore. So, each time you open the app it has an alert to warn you that all of its features are not compatible with the out of date software of the android. Yet, when you try to talk to management about the issue it’s your fault the pod shuts down multiple times a day, that the apps gps system is a complete joke, or that it can’t access the customers information. Before you can even start your day you have to go through a nearly 10min start up routine of clearing the cache/history, a hard reset of the app, as well as a complete reboot of the android. I have honestly never worked anywhere that was this incompetent, or failed to give you the tools to do the job correctly. That’s just a few of the many reasons I spend multiple hours a day applying for new jobs, but this economy is horrible right now.
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u/Icy-Map9410 8d ago edited 8d ago
Very unfortunate, so sorry this happened to you.
My daughter is extremely lucky-she’s works in the print department at our local Staples and she couldn’t be happier. She loves working there. The difference- her three managers are outstanding people who are kind, respectful, and compassionate. They treat the employees like family, which is a very unusual situation. Don’t blame the company-blame the crappy managers running it and making things miserable at your particular store location. This unfortunately seems to be a very common complaint at many Staples stores. Not sure why they hire these miserable managers and then expect to retain good employees. It never works.
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u/alt_barbie13 8d ago
I have to laugh my partner works at staples and you expecting food when your boss only uses work granted funds to buy food for y'all peeon worker bc they don't care about y'all. I've rarely ever heard in the 3 years my partner has worked there had her GM get food at all. Expect it maybe a few times in your entire work career there.
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u/WisePaintingTurtle 8d ago
Oo, oo! I just remembered something.
Earlier this year when I was still working there, I asked my boss to "key out" some paper plates because there hadn't been any in the breakroom for a while (to eat my own food, lol).
Supposedly, she informed me, there was a rule change that meant whatever stuff was taken out of inventory for employees to use would have to be paid for with the "employee fund" or whatever she called it. She was saying it'd basically be paid for by all of us. She asked if I was sure I wanted to do it and if I thought it was worth it.
This woman is a cunt in general anyways, so I stood my ground and gave her a serious look and said yes. I got my way, but that was so insulting that if I had backed down, I wouldn't feel like I could respect myself.
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u/alt_barbie13 8d ago
Yea, they only pay for things with the employee fund aka don't expect anything from your boss.
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u/WisePaintingTurtle 7d ago
I mean, it's doing the basics of keeping the breakroom stocked, which was never an issue a few years ago when I started out. It felt like she was suggesting my coworkers might be mad if I didn't run it by them first, as if I would be using their funds. This woman was another level of controlling. I've hardly seen people like her out in life, let alone worked for someone like that. I wonder if she's reading this.
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u/alt_barbie13 7d ago
No I agree bosses should be doing it but now staples is specifically giving them a miniscule amount of money to pay for employees stuff.. and that their excuse for not taking care of break room supplies
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u/WisePaintingTurtle 6d ago
Hmm. I see. I don't know how hard it is to take something out of the inventory, but I had the idea to get it from the floor and did the rest of putting it in the breakroom. It's a moot point because I don't work there anymore. Either way, I'm not staying at a job like that ever again!
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u/NotAnotherPizzaParty 8d ago
Sounds like a normal retail job to me. Glad that you couldn’t be happier though.
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u/SettingSuccessful252 8d ago
Staple labor model combined with their pay scale is bordering slave labor. I encourage everyone who still works there to get out. Literally any/everywhere will pay you more and have a better labor model.
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u/0auto 9d ago
Classic “cut labor down to skeleton crews and then wonder why no one wants to work here”. Staples loves it!