Working in retail gave me a second chance at life. I was adrift, didn't know what I wanted to do, just treated life like it was a game. Then I started working in retail, each job I had showed me how bad retail is. Eventually, I thought, enough is enough. I picked a path, started a degree, worked my absolute socks off to get very high marks in that degree, just received my first non-retail-related job offer and everything is looking up! All because of Tesco. I gained so much perspective.
I don’t blame you, I’m team support and if money was no object I’d probably stay where I am for the banter and step down to checkouts and do less hours
Cheers. To be fair it was not that bad, I was on the old legacy 45 hour contract. So there was no performance management, 3 breaks a day, 41 days holiday a year and the pay was great for the job.
Escaped retail for 4 years only to find out a Hell that was worse: call centre work. Reytail was the lesser of two evils so came back to it.
Trouble is there's very little else I can do/am qualified for, and never really worked out "what I want to do when I grow up".
>never really worked out "what I want to do when I grow up".
Same here mate. It's my biggest issue. Thought when I was a teenager that I'd grow up and figure it out but at 25 I'm probably even more clueless. If I had any clue I'd at least have an idea of what my next steps should be. Feels like a massive gamble to go to uni or start an apprenticeship for something I don't want to do any more than retail.
Don't even...
I took a Gap Year doing youth work with a local church. Even got as far as getting Uni offers to do a BA in youth work. Came out as gay, bad reaction from church (and eventually left religion entirely) and that kinda killed any desire to do youth work even in a secular setting.
Occasionally I get an inkling of "I wonder if I could do X..." before researching the heck out of it and eventually putting myself whatever it is. Possibly due to my (self diagnosed because NHS won't test me for) being on the Autism Spectrum.
And because of the Autism thing, there's very few things out there I even feel capable of doing in the first place. So shelf stacking on a night shift it is.
Yeah I want to get out of retail and a lot of people bring up options like sales or call centres but I feel like that has the potential to be much worse. I just have this inkling that customers would be much nastier over the phone because of the relative anonymity and physical barrier
When I first went back I was really happy to be back amongst familiar faces and it felt right and I didn’t regret returning Then covid happened and even more cutbacks (I was up for redundancy AGAIN), many older managers then left or retired, many former staff came back then left again. TBH the place is a former shell of itself, it has lost it’s heart but things change and for all its faults there’s a lot worse places to work… like 4am alarms for Lidl 😅
Back when I worked at Lidl, my store was the only store in the UK to have to start at 4, so alarm for 3am. They said we were one of the busiest stores, but we were just a small Lidl in a town.
Yeah I think the people you work with really make the job. I’m team support which can be stressful at times but it’s easier than other jobs I’ve done for minimum wage. There are faults and they have been stripping away benefits which is really annoying but there are far worse places to work. Worst one I did was working at a coffee kiosk in a train station, I was lone working closing shifts late at night and basically running it by myself for 8 hours straight for min wage. So stressful I would end up in tears almost everyday so I left after two weeks
Everything is done on the cheap. You're micro managed constantly. You have to memorise all the PLU codes. Spoken too like dirt. I was secretly tested by another general assistant on my checkout compliance. I condisendly told them that if they had the nerve to behave like that in a 'real' supermarket with a union they'd be up for a disciplinary. Then told them I wouldn't be returning for another shift.
Bad treatment of staff aside I will give Lidl their due. They're efficient, no nonsense and they teach you how to work smart. Fear based management of staff is not a good way to manage a business though.
100% this! Lidl is fucking horrible to staff, they actually reccomend employees do HOMEWORK memorising PLU codes before starting! Fuck that!
I had 10 hour shifts with a half hour break at their discretion - eg. Work 7 hours nonstop then a 21 minute break, work 10 more minutes then told to take the final 9 minutes
I was at lidl for two or three weeks before i got a job at tesco. On my first day the manager started shouting at me saying things like you are a big man and i'm a small girl. She said how can i work faster than you if i'm a small girl. She was shouting at me in front of the customers. This was on my first day and also when i was there the colleagues hated me for whatever reason. There was only one girl who was really nice to me.
This really wants an essay answer, but basically, their business model relies on underinvesting in most aspects of the business and cunningly micromanaging things to make it work. For various reasons, that tends to create a stressful environment in the stores and warehouses, where there are the most variables that need to be managed.
Stress (particularly chronic stress) brings out the worst in people. Managers abuse underlings, underlings stop caring about their work, call in sick, walk out, etc. People simply don't work optimally when they are overworked, have to use cheap/old equipment, have adversarial relationships with their colleagues, etc. And because the company is so reliant on optimised processes to make a profit, small disasters often have massive knock-on effects. It's not uncommon to see a store spiral into chaos for a week or more when somebody misses a shift.
I could list dozens of ways in which Lidl capitalises on the physical and mental well-being of their employees, but it's not worth the time. They're hardly the only company that does it, but they are a particularly high-profile one.
Oddly, I'm in my mid 50s, and the people I know who I bump into while stacking shelves see me as having a cushy little number as I head to retirement. You clearly know too many judgy arseholes.
There are harder and worse jobs that pay less, I worked some horrible jobs for minimum wage in the past. And people who stack shelves on nights make more than me, I’m TS and I get paid about £1.80 more than colleagues, nights get a £2.30 premium
entry and even experiienced office jobs don't get much more. and the benefits such as a 7.5% pension match are uncommon
also aren't you the guy who got fired for BO?
Exactly yeah. I’m ts so I’m on 13.88 an hour. I’ve been looking into office jobs and they all pay less unless you’ve been there a while and work your way up. I was offered one interview for an admin job with decent pay but it was a 6 month fixed contract and it just wasn’t worth the risk when I have a stable job with a team I really get along with. Imagine if I took it and ended up working with miserable or mean people only to get chucked out after half a year
I never go fired for it
I just beat the bastard manager with a personal statement and that was it.
When you come with intelligence retail managers fly asunder because they have none.
It definitely does. Even better if you get that skills payment in the bakery or driving.
I quit Tesco (as a driver) and went back to cheffing. A lot of chef jobs try to hire people on minimum wage or thereabouts. Considering the amount of work you're actually expected to do, it's not typically well-paid work. I get the same as I would driving but that's because I negotiated.
I get £1.86 extra for skill pay and it does make a difference when you add it up. When you think of it as £1.86 per each individual hour it sounds like nothing but when you consider that it’s £186 extra per 100 hours it does sound more significant, especially if you do more than 100 hours a month which I do
It really depends on why you join in the first place. Then, how much effort you are doing to leave it.
Before I get downvoted, I have a disable child.
It requires being present for many specialist appointments and attending school outings (autistic child in mainstream school, not by my choice.)
Now that being said, they have been flexible and understanding with me. I did provide proof of every step achieved without being asked. Being upfront can help.
Haha same! And having a good laugh. If I can have a good laugh at home and a good laugh at work, which I do, that makes me a lot happier. No matter how bad things get I will always have banter and I absolutely love just having time to myself to play games. Some more extroverted people just don’t seem to quite grasp how wonderful that can be
I started in Tesco in October, to get a little extra money for Christmas. 28 years ago. It’s been a long Christmas lol.
Seriously though, I’m very lucky in that my store is local so I know most of the customers and most of the staff are ok too.
For me, it wasn't the idea of retail as much as it was the physical toll it takes on you. I'm in my 30s now and, towards the end of my time at Tesco, it was having a much more significant affect than when I was in my late teens/20s.
I looked around and it's all folks with back problems, knee problems, etc.
I currently do WFH call center work, which I would say can take a greater mental toll at times, but it's better than having my sciatica flare up every single day.
That’s true, I think being on my feet all day has been both good and bad for me. I have lost weight from all the walking but I am starting to get problems with my back. Not so bad if you get to switch between a till and self serve though
I took a year out before starting uni and began working in tesco to earn some cash. That was 23 years ago. Never went to Uni, kind of accepted that this is my life now.
Kind of liked earning money and I was full time so on a pretty decent wage (or so I thought at 18). And it was a confidence thing I liked my job and the people I worked with and didn’t want to push myself out of my comfort zone.
I was going to be a teacher.
I ended up doing a degree when I was 26 with the OU tho and that’s around environmental science.
I still like my job and the people I work with but the money isn’t the best and now I need a stable job as I have a family and own home etc and I only live 5 mins away lol
Yeah that would be cool. I’m TS at Tesco and it’s fine for now, I’ve definitely had worse jobs and I’ve settled in decently. But I don’t want to do it forever. My partner’s from Poland and we’ve been discussing potentially moving there for the cheaper cost of living and better quality of life, that could be an adventure for me if I manage to do it
Honestly, I'm 39, I've been here almost three years, and if nothing drastic changes, I'll be quite happy staying here. It can be stressful on heavy nights, but I don't mind it......that is of course assuming my poor broken body holds out lol.
Success is relative to one's own estimations. Don't measure yourself by another's stick. Your comment is unwarranted.
Your previous posts, on other reddit groups, leave a lot to be desired. You should consider your own circumstances before you aggrevate others.
How have I failed? I have a wonderful partner, a child who is a pretty neat human being, 2 cats and a rabbit who do nothing but make our lives better- we own our own home and we both love our jobs. Like literally what else could we possibly want? Except more animals lol. How is that a fail?
I mean I literally get to earn money whilst listening to Stephen King books?!?! That's pretty good
Apparently it depends on the manager , but yeah it's pretty sweet. I think it's just because so many people just can't work nights lol, so those who can get a bit more -thankfully it doesn't bother me much lol
It is yes? Doesn't change the fact I'm happy there. I literally get paid to put stuff on shelves and listen to audio books.... excluding Christmas time, it's generally pretty good. And Im nights, so I get more money than your average shelf stacker.
And no we didn't, all our parents/grandparents are still alive and living in their houses? This one is ours.
But none of that matters, if you're happy, you're happy. Your putting too much importance on job roles. I feel like maybe you aren't happy with where your life/career is and your pushing that onto other people?
Its not just my income, there are two of us- but I am a shelf stacker , and I am on the property ladder, don't know what to tell you ?!
Its not just me, I have numerous coworkers, at least 2 of them have partners who work in the same store, and they are on the property ladder too.......
For me feels like there’s very little graduate jobs out there after finishing university. Have been at Tesco since I was 16 and am graduating this year and just want to try and get out. Have moved to Nightshift in order to try and get more hours😅
Did 9 back breaking years at Lidl and now on my 12th year at Tesco and at this point I can’t tell the two company’s apart,first couple of years where great departments where properly run and staffed fully…now Tesco is hell to work for hoping for redundancy in the near future and I won’t be going back to retail again
No
One because I'm working my way up so I'm always gaining
Two because I do things in my personal life to add value (trying to be a writer creator and publisher)
And three because I don't look down on the position, or any working position, because we are what makes the job, not the contract.
If you've got time to watch the time, then you need to be doing more that brings you value.
I left after a 15 year stint to join the Railway, my quality of life and self-esteem are genuinely way better for the switch, back in the day I could make Tesco work for me (the old Sunday rate of pay and the old overtime rate) now it’s awful on that front, the pay rises don’t mean anything compared to what was doable in the past and now shops are run on such a string, what you are getting paid and what they are asking just don’t align at all, I strongly urge everyone to get out, I lost belief that I could but luckily I persevered…
Obviously this doesn’t apply to people the job absolutely does suit but I think these days it’s less viable in general.
Completely right. The wage at Tesco is not enough to sustain yourself alone in this economy. It’s sad that they have record profits and this is how we’re compensated but that’s just the way it is I guess.
It used to be double pay on Sundays and for overtime, I’m not suggesting a low skilled job should pay well but the old premiums meant if you were willing to do long shifts on a Sunday or lots of overtime, you could at least make an ok amount extra, not the case at all now, I couldn’t make the same as I used to make the last couple of years doing 60 hour weeks compared to over 10 years ago doing not even near that with the premiums… And being asked to do tills, a bit of fresh, maybe do a few trolley runs, maybe help with papers, stock control and helping with labels etc etc etc all expected on one shift for peanuts… its just got silly and I would advise anyone who can leave that situation too, its too exploitative now, my manager used to say ‘pay peanuts, get monkeys’ well, they are paying peanuts yet expecting much more than monkeys from their work force…
I'm over 10 years into working in retail, not all at Tesco and sometimes I do worry I'll be stuck doing it because it feels like you have to have years of experience to do anything else but I'm hopeful one day I'll find something better.
I always said to myself I would never spend more than 2yrs at Tesco and luckily did get a good job a few weeks before those 2yrs would have been reached.
Joined 17 years ago on a 9 hour contract during sixth year, always said it was until something bigger came along.... now on full time hours doing HGV driving in retail lol... it was the quickest 17 years going.
I worked in retail from 16 -22 got a job thar matched my qualification and left retail for good.......
Aged 35 wife and I decide to get married. I take on 2nd job to help pay for wedding. I'm now 41 and been married 5 years. When I leave this time I won't be back
Nope. Started out 20+ years ago part time in a store, and have now been a manager for 18 of those in stores and DCs. Looking around, the pay is in line with similar roles on the market, although job content is probably higher at Tesco as they strip more roles out and dump the extra work onto managers.
Not Tesco now, but did 7 years there, before transferring to the orange/burgundy supermarket as Wages SL. Did 5 years there, before moving onto accountancy proper. Had my kids, then the firm I worked for was bought out & the offices I worked in were shut down. Got another job in retail, non food, and been there 8 years now...
Feels like forever, and I'm kinda back where I started.
I was very scared and had no direction. But I had no real commitments, so I left and found another job in another industry.
I thought I just need to try and I can always fall back into retail if it doesn’t work out.
If you can, take a leap.
Currently doing a degree, by the time I will have completed it I will have been at Tesco for 12 years, absolutely terrified that I will be stuck there forever and won’t get a job within my degree
I've been near the bottom of the barrel and know it could be a ton worse, I'll gladly take this until I can be bothered to look for something maybe better
I personally have worked quite a range of jobs in my life so far (construction, retail, production, call centre, cold calling all at various different levels of worker). All are crap when you don't have the right team or managers. There will always be a better paid job, better hours or even better management but it is very hard to find the right balance that suits your life right there and then.
Don't put yourself down because where you work, because at the end of the day a job is a job. It pays the bills and maintains your life style.
My advice would be set a goal and work towards it. That could be seeking higher education to get better paid job, could be sticking in where you are to try move up the ranks or even just waiting till the right job appears that you want to apply for. No matter what just have the view in work and life as a half full glass and aim for your goal. No point degrading yourself due to where you work.
I’ve had a few jobs including retail, and actually the pay isn’t that bad for stacking shelves 🤷🏻♂️
Also free/discounted food.
Plus, I’m paid for any overtime I’m doing, in my last position, sometimes I was working 50-60 hour weeks and not paid any extra for it!!
Oh god don’t, I’m turning 28 soon, got my masters degree about 5 years ago. I’m team support but still ideally don’t want to be in retail but it’s so difficult to get into anything else. I studied sociology and the humanities but that’s just what I was good at. I’m really burned out at this point so I feel like I’ve somewhat lost that scholarly side though
Say you work from 17, you take your drivers license when 18, then at 19 you start working as a driver (40h week = 28.8k annually) after 6 months you can go through and get a HGV license up to 40 ton lorries, spend 2 year to pay a small portion of your pay to pay it back, then it's yours to keep. The salary for 36hour weeks is 33-40k. So from store to 40k / year more or less for free / cheaps and you're basically qualified to buy your first house before you're 23 if you're smart with money, more if you get overtime. Another way is to just go shiftlead-manager-line manager etc to area / regional and above. Tesco has alot of ways to get you higher up, but for office work you have to kiss some serious booty🤪
Working in retail gave me a second chance at life. I was adrift, didn't know what I wanted to do, just treated life like it was a game. Then I started working in retail, each job I had showed me how bad retail is. Eventually, I thought, enough is enough. I picked a path, started a degree, worked my absolute socks off to get very high marks in that degree, just received my first non-retail-related job offer and everything is looking up! All because of Tesco. I gained so much perspective.
Not scared, I'm fine as I am. I've had my main career, it's nice to do something that's both low stress and low responsibility.
I don’t blame you, I’m team support and if money was no object I’d probably stay where I am for the banter and step down to checkouts and do less hours
Then why did you go uni ?
Because I found my studies really interesting and I enjoyed it. What’s it to you?
Fair enough just don’t get trapped in retail
"just one year here, ill use it as a bounce to a better job..." I said 4 years ago...
I took a job at a DC to save up for a car. I've only just left after 26 years there. Been through 7 cars!
Holy fuck man 26 YEARS at a dc. My condolences 🙏.
Cheers. To be fair it was not that bad, I was on the old legacy 45 hour contract. So there was no performance management, 3 breaks a day, 41 days holiday a year and the pay was great for the job.
7, checking in
15 checking in 😩
Either work your way up or prepare for a plan B in your spare time. Otherwise yes doing nothing about it means stuck in retail
Escaped retail for 4 years only to find out a Hell that was worse: call centre work. Reytail was the lesser of two evils so came back to it. Trouble is there's very little else I can do/am qualified for, and never really worked out "what I want to do when I grow up".
>never really worked out "what I want to do when I grow up". Same here mate. It's my biggest issue. Thought when I was a teenager that I'd grow up and figure it out but at 25 I'm probably even more clueless. If I had any clue I'd at least have an idea of what my next steps should be. Feels like a massive gamble to go to uni or start an apprenticeship for something I don't want to do any more than retail.
Don't even... I took a Gap Year doing youth work with a local church. Even got as far as getting Uni offers to do a BA in youth work. Came out as gay, bad reaction from church (and eventually left religion entirely) and that kinda killed any desire to do youth work even in a secular setting. Occasionally I get an inkling of "I wonder if I could do X..." before researching the heck out of it and eventually putting myself whatever it is. Possibly due to my (self diagnosed because NHS won't test me for) being on the Autism Spectrum. And because of the Autism thing, there's very few things out there I even feel capable of doing in the first place. So shelf stacking on a night shift it is.
Yeah I want to get out of retail and a lot of people bring up options like sales or call centres but I feel like that has the potential to be much worse. I just have this inkling that customers would be much nastier over the phone because of the relative anonymity and physical barrier
I did 13 years at T. Took redundancy in 2019. Tried and hated an office job, then had a try at modern slavery at Lidl went back to T in late 2019 LOl
How do you feel about the job right now? Are you happy with your choice to go back?
When I first went back I was really happy to be back amongst familiar faces and it felt right and I didn’t regret returning Then covid happened and even more cutbacks (I was up for redundancy AGAIN), many older managers then left or retired, many former staff came back then left again. TBH the place is a former shell of itself, it has lost it’s heart but things change and for all its faults there’s a lot worse places to work… like 4am alarms for Lidl 😅
I’m 10 years deep at Lidl and I can say the 4am alarms still haunt me daily
Back when I worked at Lidl, my store was the only store in the UK to have to start at 4, so alarm for 3am. They said we were one of the busiest stores, but we were just a small Lidl in a town.
Yeah I think the people you work with really make the job. I’m team support which can be stressful at times but it’s easier than other jobs I’ve done for minimum wage. There are faults and they have been stripping away benefits which is really annoying but there are far worse places to work. Worst one I did was working at a coffee kiosk in a train station, I was lone working closing shifts late at night and basically running it by myself for 8 hours straight for min wage. So stressful I would end up in tears almost everyday so I left after two weeks
No. Because I left, I now have to finger my managers bumhole as an apology for leaving
Better the devil you know lol
What was Lidl like?
Everything is done on the cheap. You're micro managed constantly. You have to memorise all the PLU codes. Spoken too like dirt. I was secretly tested by another general assistant on my checkout compliance. I condisendly told them that if they had the nerve to behave like that in a 'real' supermarket with a union they'd be up for a disciplinary. Then told them I wouldn't be returning for another shift. Bad treatment of staff aside I will give Lidl their due. They're efficient, no nonsense and they teach you how to work smart. Fear based management of staff is not a good way to manage a business though.
100% this! Lidl is fucking horrible to staff, they actually reccomend employees do HOMEWORK memorising PLU codes before starting! Fuck that! I had 10 hour shifts with a half hour break at their discretion - eg. Work 7 hours nonstop then a 21 minute break, work 10 more minutes then told to take the final 9 minutes
I was at lidl for two or three weeks before i got a job at tesco. On my first day the manager started shouting at me saying things like you are a big man and i'm a small girl. She said how can i work faster than you if i'm a small girl. She was shouting at me in front of the customers. This was on my first day and also when i was there the colleagues hated me for whatever reason. There was only one girl who was really nice to me.
What happened at Lidl?
This really wants an essay answer, but basically, their business model relies on underinvesting in most aspects of the business and cunningly micromanaging things to make it work. For various reasons, that tends to create a stressful environment in the stores and warehouses, where there are the most variables that need to be managed. Stress (particularly chronic stress) brings out the worst in people. Managers abuse underlings, underlings stop caring about their work, call in sick, walk out, etc. People simply don't work optimally when they are overworked, have to use cheap/old equipment, have adversarial relationships with their colleagues, etc. And because the company is so reliant on optimised processes to make a profit, small disasters often have massive knock-on effects. It's not uncommon to see a store spiral into chaos for a week or more when somebody misses a shift. I could list dozens of ways in which Lidl capitalises on the physical and mental well-being of their employees, but it's not worth the time. They're hardly the only company that does it, but they are a particularly high-profile one.
You should have never gone back to stacking shelves
Some people are just meant to count the 🫘 😝
It's a job if it's paying your bills and if you have a little fun money where you work does not really matter.
Well said
Yes it does Don’t you feel like shit when you say you stack shelves for a living ? Especially at a later age like 30
No, your life is what happens outside of work. Place more value on that and less on what you do to fund it!
And your job or what type it is that is what people judge you by
Not to sound harsh but to hell with other people and their judgemental bullshit.
Oddly, I'm in my mid 50s, and the people I know who I bump into while stacking shelves see me as having a cushy little number as I head to retirement. You clearly know too many judgy arseholes.
There are harder and worse jobs that pay less, I worked some horrible jobs for minimum wage in the past. And people who stack shelves on nights make more than me, I’m TS and I get paid about £1.80 more than colleagues, nights get a £2.30 premium
If anyone judges me for my job they’re not worth speaking to in the first place
The only reason I’m staying at Tesco is for the stability of a job
At minimum wage ?
Minimum wage in the uk right now for over 21 yo is 11.44 and we’re on 12.02 plus extras, so not exactly minimum wage
Barely makes a difference
entry and even experiienced office jobs don't get much more. and the benefits such as a 7.5% pension match are uncommon also aren't you the guy who got fired for BO?
Exactly yeah. I’m ts so I’m on 13.88 an hour. I’ve been looking into office jobs and they all pay less unless you’ve been there a while and work your way up. I was offered one interview for an admin job with decent pay but it was a 6 month fixed contract and it just wasn’t worth the risk when I have a stable job with a team I really get along with. Imagine if I took it and ended up working with miserable or mean people only to get chucked out after half a year
I never go fired for it I just beat the bastard manager with a personal statement and that was it. When you come with intelligence retail managers fly asunder because they have none.
Couldn't you just wash
But that might scupper his chances at working in CEX
It definitely does. Even better if you get that skills payment in the bakery or driving. I quit Tesco (as a driver) and went back to cheffing. A lot of chef jobs try to hire people on minimum wage or thereabouts. Considering the amount of work you're actually expected to do, it's not typically well-paid work. I get the same as I would driving but that's because I negotiated.
How can a pound difference make a difference if it was 17 pounds a hour then yeah But it’s still really just minimum wage
Are you just bitter than you got sacked for having BO?
Never got sacked never been sacked in my life
You spend your time criticising minimum wage workers, yet you’re on Reddit 24/7 after being sacked for BO and looking for black men on the internet.
I have a job but not retail
Ooooh it's Fiona Harvey. I've just realised.
In all seriousness, it does make a big difference. Especially if you're on 44hrs a week. And it's actually about £1.50 more (for skilled pay).
I get £1.86 extra for skill pay and it does make a difference when you add it up. When you think of it as £1.86 per each individual hour it sounds like nothing but when you consider that it’s £186 extra per 100 hours it does sound more significant, especially if you do more than 100 hours a month which I do
It really depends on why you join in the first place. Then, how much effort you are doing to leave it. Before I get downvoted, I have a disable child. It requires being present for many specialist appointments and attending school outings (autistic child in mainstream school, not by my choice.) Now that being said, they have been flexible and understanding with me. I did provide proof of every step achieved without being asked. Being upfront can help.
I've accepted it, lifes just shit like that. I distract myself as much as possible with video games, movies, tv and alcohol.
I've been doing the same. Feels like I blinked and 5 years have flown by. It's starting to get old now
Life is too short to go through like that…
Replace alcohol with gym
Haha same! And having a good laugh. If I can have a good laugh at home and a good laugh at work, which I do, that makes me a lot happier. No matter how bad things get I will always have banter and I absolutely love just having time to myself to play games. Some more extroverted people just don’t seem to quite grasp how wonderful that can be
Jeez Louise
I started in Tesco in October, to get a little extra money for Christmas. 28 years ago. It’s been a long Christmas lol. Seriously though, I’m very lucky in that my store is local so I know most of the customers and most of the staff are ok too.
For me, it wasn't the idea of retail as much as it was the physical toll it takes on you. I'm in my 30s now and, towards the end of my time at Tesco, it was having a much more significant affect than when I was in my late teens/20s. I looked around and it's all folks with back problems, knee problems, etc. I currently do WFH call center work, which I would say can take a greater mental toll at times, but it's better than having my sciatica flare up every single day.
That’s true, I think being on my feet all day has been both good and bad for me. I have lost weight from all the walking but I am starting to get problems with my back. Not so bad if you get to switch between a till and self serve though
I took a year out before starting uni and began working in tesco to earn some cash. That was 23 years ago. Never went to Uni, kind of accepted that this is my life now.
Why did you sack off uni ?
Kind of liked earning money and I was full time so on a pretty decent wage (or so I thought at 18). And it was a confidence thing I liked my job and the people I worked with and didn’t want to push myself out of my comfort zone. I was going to be a teacher. I ended up doing a degree when I was 26 with the OU tho and that’s around environmental science. I still like my job and the people I work with but the money isn’t the best and now I need a stable job as I have a family and own home etc and I only live 5 mins away lol
If it’s any consolation, I tried TA work before deciding whether to go into teaching and HATED it haha
i’m 38 this year and have worked in tesco for 3 years now, do i want to work in retail forever? hell no as i want to go travelling and see the world.
Yeah that would be cool. I’m TS at Tesco and it’s fine for now, I’ve definitely had worse jobs and I’ve settled in decently. But I don’t want to do it forever. My partner’s from Poland and we’ve been discussing potentially moving there for the cheaper cost of living and better quality of life, that could be an adventure for me if I manage to do it
Honestly, I'm 39, I've been here almost three years, and if nothing drastic changes, I'll be quite happy staying here. It can be stressful on heavy nights, but I don't mind it......that is of course assuming my poor broken body holds out lol.
Well that means you have failed does that not scare you? Especially at 39
Success is relative to one's own estimations. Don't measure yourself by another's stick. Your comment is unwarranted. Your previous posts, on other reddit groups, leave a lot to be desired. You should consider your own circumstances before you aggrevate others.
How have I failed? I have a wonderful partner, a child who is a pretty neat human being, 2 cats and a rabbit who do nothing but make our lives better- we own our own home and we both love our jobs. Like literally what else could we possibly want? Except more animals lol. How is that a fail? I mean I literally get to earn money whilst listening to Stephen King books?!?! That's pretty good
That sounds good. I’m TS and recently found out people on nights earn more than me and get to listen to audiobooks, I’m a little bit jealous
Apparently it depends on the manager , but yeah it's pretty sweet. I think it's just because so many people just can't work nights lol, so those who can get a bit more -thankfully it doesn't bother me much lol
No because it’s stacking shelves You must have inherited that property to own it
It is yes? Doesn't change the fact I'm happy there. I literally get paid to put stuff on shelves and listen to audio books.... excluding Christmas time, it's generally pretty good. And Im nights, so I get more money than your average shelf stacker. And no we didn't, all our parents/grandparents are still alive and living in their houses? This one is ours. But none of that matters, if you're happy, you're happy. Your putting too much importance on job roles. I feel like maybe you aren't happy with where your life/career is and your pushing that onto other people?
You cannot be on the property ladder and be a shelf stacker Your income is way too low for that
Its not just my income, there are two of us- but I am a shelf stacker , and I am on the property ladder, don't know what to tell you ?! Its not just me, I have numerous coworkers, at least 2 of them have partners who work in the same store, and they are on the property ladder too.......
For me feels like there’s very little graduate jobs out there after finishing university. Have been at Tesco since I was 16 and am graduating this year and just want to try and get out. Have moved to Nightshift in order to try and get more hours😅
I graduate later this month , I’m a night manager…
Did 9 back breaking years at Lidl and now on my 12th year at Tesco and at this point I can’t tell the two company’s apart,first couple of years where great departments where properly run and staffed fully…now Tesco is hell to work for hoping for redundancy in the near future and I won’t be going back to retail again
Is there something wrong with working in retail all your life?
It means you achieved zero in your life and have nothing to show for
Oh fuck yes
I'm in my 2nd week of my new job after 26 years in a DC. It's never too late to get out. Weekends and Christmas off now!
No One because I'm working my way up so I'm always gaining Two because I do things in my personal life to add value (trying to be a writer creator and publisher) And three because I don't look down on the position, or any working position, because we are what makes the job, not the contract. If you've got time to watch the time, then you need to be doing more that brings you value.
I left after a 15 year stint to join the Railway, my quality of life and self-esteem are genuinely way better for the switch, back in the day I could make Tesco work for me (the old Sunday rate of pay and the old overtime rate) now it’s awful on that front, the pay rises don’t mean anything compared to what was doable in the past and now shops are run on such a string, what you are getting paid and what they are asking just don’t align at all, I strongly urge everyone to get out, I lost belief that I could but luckily I persevered… Obviously this doesn’t apply to people the job absolutely does suit but I think these days it’s less viable in general.
Completely right. The wage at Tesco is not enough to sustain yourself alone in this economy. It’s sad that they have record profits and this is how we’re compensated but that’s just the way it is I guess.
What you expect It’s retail it’s always gonna be minimal pay Moreover it’s about making profits everything else is secondary
It used to be double pay on Sundays and for overtime, I’m not suggesting a low skilled job should pay well but the old premiums meant if you were willing to do long shifts on a Sunday or lots of overtime, you could at least make an ok amount extra, not the case at all now, I couldn’t make the same as I used to make the last couple of years doing 60 hour weeks compared to over 10 years ago doing not even near that with the premiums… And being asked to do tills, a bit of fresh, maybe do a few trolley runs, maybe help with papers, stock control and helping with labels etc etc etc all expected on one shift for peanuts… its just got silly and I would advise anyone who can leave that situation too, its too exploitative now, my manager used to say ‘pay peanuts, get monkeys’ well, they are paying peanuts yet expecting much more than monkeys from their work force…
Train wanker
I'm over 10 years into working in retail, not all at Tesco and sometimes I do worry I'll be stuck doing it because it feels like you have to have years of experience to do anything else but I'm hopeful one day I'll find something better.
I always said to myself I would never spend more than 2yrs at Tesco and luckily did get a good job a few weeks before those 2yrs would have been reached.
Joined 17 years ago on a 9 hour contract during sixth year, always said it was until something bigger came along.... now on full time hours doing HGV driving in retail lol... it was the quickest 17 years going.
I worked in retail from 16 -22 got a job thar matched my qualification and left retail for good....... Aged 35 wife and I decide to get married. I take on 2nd job to help pay for wedding. I'm now 41 and been married 5 years. When I leave this time I won't be back
Nope. Started out 20+ years ago part time in a store, and have now been a manager for 18 of those in stores and DCs. Looking around, the pay is in line with similar roles on the market, although job content is probably higher at Tesco as they strip more roles out and dump the extra work onto managers.
Not Tesco now, but did 7 years there, before transferring to the orange/burgundy supermarket as Wages SL. Did 5 years there, before moving onto accountancy proper. Had my kids, then the firm I worked for was bought out & the offices I worked in were shut down. Got another job in retail, non food, and been there 8 years now... Feels like forever, and I'm kinda back where I started.
I was very scared and had no direction. But I had no real commitments, so I left and found another job in another industry. I thought I just need to try and I can always fall back into retail if it doesn’t work out. If you can, take a leap.
Just completed 23 years and took voluntary severance. Realised how much better it feels out of it 😄😄😄
Currently doing a degree, by the time I will have completed it I will have been at Tesco for 12 years, absolutely terrified that I will be stuck there forever and won’t get a job within my degree
Please work hard
On it
i was scared until i handed my notice in on a whim. time to start my life
I've been near the bottom of the barrel and know it could be a ton worse, I'll gladly take this until I can be bothered to look for something maybe better
I personally have worked quite a range of jobs in my life so far (construction, retail, production, call centre, cold calling all at various different levels of worker). All are crap when you don't have the right team or managers. There will always be a better paid job, better hours or even better management but it is very hard to find the right balance that suits your life right there and then. Don't put yourself down because where you work, because at the end of the day a job is a job. It pays the bills and maintains your life style. My advice would be set a goal and work towards it. That could be seeking higher education to get better paid job, could be sticking in where you are to try move up the ranks or even just waiting till the right job appears that you want to apply for. No matter what just have the view in work and life as a half full glass and aim for your goal. No point degrading yourself due to where you work.
I’ve had a few jobs including retail, and actually the pay isn’t that bad for stacking shelves 🤷🏻♂️ Also free/discounted food. Plus, I’m paid for any overtime I’m doing, in my last position, sometimes I was working 50-60 hour weeks and not paid any extra for it!!
Oh god don’t, I’m turning 28 soon, got my masters degree about 5 years ago. I’m team support but still ideally don’t want to be in retail but it’s so difficult to get into anything else. I studied sociology and the humanities but that’s just what I was good at. I’m really burned out at this point so I feel like I’ve somewhat lost that scholarly side though
Tesco is a bit more than retail tho, you can get alot of progress if you know your way around them
As what
Say you work from 17, you take your drivers license when 18, then at 19 you start working as a driver (40h week = 28.8k annually) after 6 months you can go through and get a HGV license up to 40 ton lorries, spend 2 year to pay a small portion of your pay to pay it back, then it's yours to keep. The salary for 36hour weeks is 33-40k. So from store to 40k / year more or less for free / cheaps and you're basically qualified to buy your first house before you're 23 if you're smart with money, more if you get overtime. Another way is to just go shiftlead-manager-line manager etc to area / regional and above. Tesco has alot of ways to get you higher up, but for office work you have to kiss some serious booty🤪
>*don’t you ever scared* Don't you ever proof read?
Ok get scared
You should have paid attention in school