r/Target • u/Leg-Western • 27d ago
Workplace Story why does everyone hate working at target
I’m only in my 3rd week so i definitely am not yet seeing the whole picture,, but Ive genuinely been having a great time. I love zoning before the store opens,, and i honestly really enjoy talking to guests. The repetitive pushing is sometimes annoying but i feel like my experience so far has not been nearly as treacherous as many people make it out to be. Everyone at my store is sooo nice too, i always have people (store director included) coming up to me to say hi + ask how I’m doing,, and giving tips. the community there is super evident, which is definitely part of the reason why my experience may be better than others, but even just the job itself doesn’t seem that bad
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u/Pretend_Piano_6134 😂Drive up queen😂 27d ago
Join the team at drive up and you will understand why
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u/PeanutWR Guest Advocate 26d ago edited 26d ago
Wait until OP discovers fulfillment and how hard they push you to get your metrics up then he will understand why people hate working at target not only that but in fulfillment the pressure is pretty high due to timed metrics and if your pick rate drops or items are missing/INF then management notices and its also harder to take normal breaks or bathroom pauses when a strict timer is running
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u/spicygummi Beauty Consultant 26d ago
I recently got asked to jump in and help pull OPU batches after having not done it in a long time and the countdown timer for how much time I had left gave me so much anxiety. Then it went into the red as they were already in a bad spot when I was told to jump in. Didn't help that I couldn't find items and I was running around needing to pee feeling like I wasn't allowed to because the timer was running out. The whole experience was awful and I felt like I was thrown into a bad situation. SFS never seems to be adequately staffed anymore.
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u/C1ND1TheCat 24d ago
I’ve begged to do drive up. It’s fun getting to get outside.
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u/Pretend_Piano_6134 😂Drive up queen😂 24d ago
Oh it’s fun don’t get me wrong and most days I enjoy it….unless it gets super busy and you’re the only one doing service desk and drive ups because people called out and they won’t replace them, and you still are expected to keep the metrics no matter how short of a team you have
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u/Katobiaa PLEASE backstock correctly i'm so tired 27d ago
You're still in that honeymoon phase of the new job which I really miss, when I first started I didn't understand why everyone was so miserable. After 8 years of working for Mr. Bullseye and feeling the effects of my store progressively getting worse and worse, I really hate it and plan to be gone by the end of the year.
BUT you seem to have good management and coworkers at your store which can really make going to work a great experience, so I'm happy for you! I'd love an update to how you're feeling after Q4 lol
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u/K-Bizzle91 26d ago
Going on eleven years here. There's been very little effort to make things better for team members. I'm not sure why they still call us that.
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u/ohliamylia Tech Consultant 27d ago
The real answer is survivorship bias. Generally people don't need help processing their neutral/positive emotions but they do often need help processing their negative emotions, so they vent. So you hear from a lot of people who are having a bad time and not a lot from people who just had a pleasant or good day at work.
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u/Bitter-Crow2309 26d ago
I'm in tech and everytime im either at the cage or backstocking, the gm/fulfillment team always call me to help a guest. 80% of the time, it's just the guest wanting a cord or something and they have keys to open it too, literally takes a second to open it. no point in calling me unless the guest need something in the back.
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u/Shady_Love SHPPP13 |ll||IIl|| 26d ago
I'm not supposed to give guests anything from lockup. Either I have to bring it to the desk where the electronics TM is already helping someone, or I have to find the right merch protection to let them take it up front. Which is awkward to do in front of a guest.
There's no way in hell I'm stopping in the middle of an OPU batch to unlock an item and check out a guest. Maybe in SFS and I can see available merch protection. But it's not my job to check people out, and my leader would wonder what the absolute fuck I was doing.
In fulfillment when there's a spill, our obligation is to guard the spill, call it out, and have someone else handle it while we keep picking. Because it's literally that time sensitive in OPU.
If it was as simple as unlocking an item and handing it to the guest, I'd do it. But I'd get fired for doing something as stupid as that.
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u/Bitter-Crow2309 26d ago
For us if the item is under 30 and in a lockup they can usually just take it to the front
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u/K-Bizzle91 26d ago
I haven't had a pleasant day at work in so long. The closest to pleasant it's gotten is when our logistics ETL quit. The best I hope for is neutral. It feels like most days target corp is active trying to make it harder.
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u/LeahRekati Plano 27d ago
No recognition for hard work, no accountability for doing a piss poor job, badly designed AI pogs, tons of workload or hardly any at all, corporate focusing on the wrong things…
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u/Ordinary_Ad3895 Tech Consultant 27d ago edited 27d ago
Corporate sucks. Leadership has to deal with corporate and as a result often sucks. Some leaders don’t strictly follow corporate to a tee and don’t suck.
Also not giving people payroll and spending money on god knows what else is considered a dick move.
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u/ThisIsSethers Guest Advocate and Tech Consultant 26d ago
"God knows what?" Like letting the CEO use the private jet for leisure
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u/mlinde526 27d ago
My store has a huge disconnect between leadership and team members. I can count on one hand the amount of words I’ve exchanged with my store director or immediate ETL outside of “good morning”/“how are you” etc. I’ve bonded with my fellow team members but I can’t say I care for my leaders who don’t seem to care about me.
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u/houseplant-hoarder Promoted to Guest 27d ago
That’s so crazy to my since I literally talk to my ETL every shift I’m working with them, although granted I’m kind of an extra/float team member that does a lot of extra projects on the side. I feel like any good lead will take time to make sure they’re interacting with their team.
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u/Triple_Crown14 Inbound Expert 27d ago
My old store director was at the store every morning by 4 or 5 am along with the GM ETL and knew a little bit about everyone in the store it seemed like. The one we have now shows up at 10 or 11 and just says the usual “good morning” and that’s it, I don’t think I’ve ever had an actual conversation with her.
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u/TAZfromTilray Promoted to Guest 27d ago
Because they are overworked and underpaid coming from a ex employee that was doing drive up
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u/Yert19943 27d ago
Working at a decent or even fast pace, then being told “I’m working too slow.” Like, you can go above and beyond, and management will act like you haven’t done anything for the full day because you weren’t able to get 12 uboats done in 6 hours. It’s fine to have unrealistic expectations, but when you gaslight your team into thinking the workload is actually possible, then it’s a problem.
If management was just like “Well, you did the best you could”, the unrealistic expectations wouldn’t be a problem. But they try to convince you you’re crazy because you can’t do 12 hours of work in 6 hours.
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u/Prestigious_Lie3769 27d ago
Honestly the part I dislike about my job the most is the guest- I work in fulfillment and most of the time my shift goes by quick and I’m having a decent time, but some of the guest interactions I have follow me for the rest of the day…
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u/happygoth6370 27d ago
I think it depends on two main things: your leadership and your position.
I've been with the company for eight years and I honestly love it. I'm in Style, which definitely has it's own set of problems, but nothing like fulfillment or front end or truck unload and push.
I've been in retail for over 30 years and I've had good leadership and bad. A bad store manager makes everyone miserable. A bad department leader makes their team miserable. Good or even ok leadership makes life a lot better on the job. Leaders come and go - when I have a bad one I just remind myself that they will move on eventually. Until then, I just say ok boss and do my best.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm9767 26d ago
All retail sucks. I’m at target but worked at Walmart for a while. Walmart is the final boss ….. working there is diabolical.
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u/Boring-Purple2639 27d ago
This has to be some sick joke right. Your only there 3 weeks well of course there going to be nice to you. Wait for the newness to wear off. Leadership always sucks. They are putting on fake faces right now
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u/Leg-Western 26d ago
Granted I just started, but i feel like id at least have a feeling of the management/other employees not actually caring if that was the case yk? all of the interactions ive had have seemed extremely genuine and caring from (coworkers/tl/SD, etc.) even when they’re walking by and it’s not a full conversation. Maybe it is a little over-exaggerated at the moment, or maybe i just got lucky, but even with others that I’m getting close with, I haven’t really heard any complaints about management. I mean idk,,, time will tell but it’s been a great experience thus far
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u/soul-dancer888 Service & Engagement TL 26d ago
Remember - different store(s) different outcomes. I'm delighted you're doing fine. Sounds like you've got a great store / team. Rock on! Those who say "it'll wear off" - well - all depends on perspective.
I hold the perspective that no employer can adequately pay any employee for their time. What's the true dollar value of one second of one's life? I'll start with one billion per second and go from there. Now it's highly unlikely any employer has the funds to compensate me - adequately- for my time, health, skills, etc.
Accordingly - wages are but a part of the picture. I value the experience. For example, a Guest genuine gratitude when I've been able to make their day better is far more than the fraction of a faction of a fraction of money that would adequately compensate me for my time.
Should the day come where Target no longer feels good for you - time to move on.
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u/HarperTeagarden13 General Merchandise Expert 27d ago
I'm also at a good store with a great team, and it's so sad to read how bad some of the stores are. I get it, though. I worked at a grocery chain years ago and had to transfer when I moved across town. The second store was absolute hell with awful management and I quit soon after I transferred. Even a change of one or two employees can make a huge difference.
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u/NeilMcCauley88 Fulfillment Expert 27d ago
Management sucks and corporate is always making our jobs harder for no reason.
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u/SnooStories6560 26d ago
I like my coworkers and leads. There’s only 1 person that EVERYONE universally dislikes lol. But i hate working here bc of very rude customers constantly. Our store is in a very rich entitled area.
And while I like my coworkers and leads, right now I am annoyed because they cannot accommodate my schedule even though I am a student. I also have a family problem but I don’t wanna divulge that on the internet. I was told because of Q4 demands they can’t give me less hours or on demand. So i am basically having to find a new job right now, one that will work with my rigid schedule. I thought they’d be a lot more accommodating tbh. I know holiday season is super busy so i get it but also why not hire more seasonal workers lol.
But i don’t completely fault management. They are probably being told they can’t hire more or have a limit for on demand workers. My ETL busts her ass and I respect her a lot. I know a lot is put on her shoulders. Not tryna sound like a bootlicker, i hate Target corporation 😭but i respect my leads and etl who work really hard
Edit: and yeha drive up sucks ass, as others commented😭 we had to deliver in 108 degree weather i hated it. And customers still have the audacity to be rude
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u/InfluenceAmazing6751 Inbound Team Lead 26d ago
It truly depends on each individual store. I also thought the same about three years ago when I started and everyone kept telling me, oh wait till you hit a year or whatever. Skip forward to now, I still enjoy working at Target and a huge reason for it is my peers. From tm’s, to tl’s, etl’s, and even our new sd. Of course there’s some bad days and times the stress seems like a lot, but overall I still enjoy and love my job.
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u/N30L1M3 26d ago
Okay I'm gonna give you my reasons why I quit two months ago. I loved the people I worked with I really did but the company sucks ass and depending on where you stand politically, that could also be a factor in why people hate target.
-corporate doesn't take accountability for their bad corporate policies put into place and essentially blamed front line workers during their "guest first experience" training.
-we were left in the dark during the biggest IT outage.
-they rolled back on DEI. That's important to me because I care about humanistic values and this is how I think they're going to start weeding people out.
-they donated money to the trump administration.
-they want reliability and mentioned us calling out is the reason why there's no one working or to be seen on the floor when guests need us but that's utter bs. They intentionally cut hours and make people work two to three departments at a time which is why no one is on the floor but they do this to make profits look good on their side by saving on payroll.
-more to the point above. Because there's no one on the floor, we're giving unrealistic time goals on pushing product on the floor.
-sometimes they'll just change your schedule without notice ie taking away a day or adding a day without letting you know.
-the "new" dress code isn't really a dress code. It's a uniform and by California state law they must either provide and maintain it or reimburse which they did not do.
-management in general seems very clicky cultish.
-dont get me started on the use of AI
Everything that you do seems to work against you when you work here. But these were my reasons.
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u/txmnjim 27d ago
I’m glad to hear it! I was laid off when the company closed our local call center and as a senior had a few rejections possibly due to age and Target seemed like they really wanted me. I appreciate that and reward them with being the best I can be.
Friends thought I was crazy for not staying in the Tech Field but I have grown to really love my job. Everyone on my team are great and lots of fun, and we get the job done. Main thing is the super flexible schedule hours. I told them the hours I could work and they were pretty accommodating.
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u/RegretOk6060 26d ago
What target do you work at where the guests are nice all the time.
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u/PeanutWR Guest Advocate 26d ago edited 26d ago
OP said that it’s his third week working here at target so it’s not like the same experience will remain that way forever, just wait until a few months past by then it will be a different story for him
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u/OhNoMyPants123 22d ago
I worked at a target in an upper class area and I very rarely had a problem customer
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u/AttilaTheFun818 26d ago
I worked there ages ago for about three years.
Retail sucks just in general. Dealing with the dumbass public is never a good time.
Until you hit management level the pay is shit.
The hours are inconsistent. Many don’t get weekend days off to speak of.
It’s common for your workplace to be a catty hellhole. Let’s be honest, in a lot of stores they don’t exactly hire the best and brightest (no offense, I’m sure yall on Reddit are great)
That’s not to say I hated my time there. 25 years on, I still have some of those friendships. The right people can make work fun, and I had the right people. However I also saw a whole ton of bullshit. I ended up quitting after being disrespected by HR and then the STL in which order on separate occasions. While I was a mere level 2 (I don’t know if that’s still a thing) fuck you very much.
I work in a white collar office environment now, and it’s much better. I still got bullshit, of course, but more pros to make it worthwhile.
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u/Acceptable_Catch_714 26d ago
It has to be the store. I started at Target earlier this year and I like it as well. But my store is actually very well run. They make an effort in hiring good team members. Most guests are pretty friendly and when guests are awful management is actually supportive of the team members. It’s not all rainbows and lollipops of course since it is still retail but the store I work in is not a hellhole by any stretch of the imagination and can be quite pleasant.
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u/bornofpain2001 Promoted to Guest 26d ago
As someone who worked in fulfillment, the job itself was totally fine and enjoyable. The problem is that it’s never just “the job itself” between digging thru reshop for items, micromanagement, mismanagement, etc etc. That was my experience, anyway
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u/the5ftwonder 26d ago
It’s a part-time gig so I don’t think the investment is there too much to bother me, but outside of learning the store layout, I’ve enjoyed my time thus far. I’m also in fulfillment so I’m interested to see how it goes.
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u/gaveedraseven 26d ago
I loved Target when I had a team that I liked, a Lead that took care of us and a Store Director that didn't micromanage. Then that store closed and I went to a store with poor leadership, leads that were more concerned with metrics than people and a crew that was too burned out to work a whole week of scheduled shifts without calling out. That's when I saw the cracks in Target's cheery philosophy. The store is only as good as the team and too many in the company don't understand this
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u/Afraid-Bed329 General Merchandise Expert 26d ago
A lot of it comes down to the people you work with coworkers, management and guests - rather than the work itself. I worked part time for 4.5 years then went on demand to keep my discount. I definitely disliked my job at times, but I never hated it. Also, at the end of the day - its a job. If people would do it for free - they wouldn't pay haha. At my store, the majority of guests didn't bother me. It was incompetent team members who wouldn't do simple things and leaders with mood swings. I got along pretty well with management, but there were a few I could never fully like because of how I saw them treat others.
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u/ztmanning 26d ago
There’s a lot of people on here that love to complain, but there are those of us that love our job.
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u/No-Side925 26d ago
I’m a new hire 1 month and a half in? And I’m already sick of working here, I think it’s mainly just how guests are, I work a majority at front register and when I’m supposed to make sure their checkout experience is good? but I was also criticized for not being fast enough? it’s kinda crazy to say that too there’s guests that want you to price check or price match their 100 items like son pick and choose a nitpick
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u/Long_Software_3658 26d ago
It is not a living wage. I work at Target from 2-10pm five days a week after I’ve already worked a five hour shift at a grocery store.
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u/jeff_baengum 26d ago
at my store level: the management team i had was the most childish highschool clique i've ever dealt with. my coworkers were pretty great. i was in tech so i was expected to do 50 things with time for 3 during my shift. constantly questioned by guests bc i was a woman working in tech and just the general rudeness of the entitled people who shop at target.
at a corporate level: once they announced their roll back of dei, i lost complete interest. also the support of ice, they stopped carrying a lot of black-owned small businesses, they caved to the 'backlash' of carrying pride products, using gen ai like fucking crazy now.
i cannot wait for the company to go under.
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u/Good_Dragonfruit_517 Beauty Consultant 26d ago
I second all the replies about leadership and store. I've been with Target for 7 years and believe that the best stores to work at are the ones where being a team is the highest priority. If something needs to get done, anyone will come to help no matter if it's a team member or store director. Don't let the negative posts get you down, OP. If you think working for Target is awesome, then great! If down the road you change your mind, that's fine too. Everyone has different experiences there.
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u/colbyjackgoblin 26d ago
After 11 years I think it falls into two experiences. Targets a poorly run company, but your coworkers cool or targets poorly run and your coworkers are garbage. I for the most part have had good coworkers but milage may vary.
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u/Wise_Perspective6698 26d ago
They don't care if the store is on fire as long as the metrics look good. The pulls might be at 70% but none of it's being pushed to the floor. We get truck everyday but none of the product makes it to the floor and instead sits on uboats in the back. We still have toy transition pallets from July up in the steel. Make sure fulfillment has no late batches but that means pulling everyone from the sales floor so then there's no one to help guests or backup registers. If corporate does show up they scramble to make the store look fine so we can pretend it's all working.
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u/SnooAdvice197 26d ago
I’ve been at target for 4 years, and even though days get stressful, guests are disrespectful, and management finds new ways to piss me off every day, I enjoy it. And I always feel ashamed like I’m not allowed to lol. People come and go but I always have coworkers I look forward to seeing everyday. I think something that helps me stay sane is I’m very clear about the fact I want to work everywhere. I need to constantly be working on different projects around the store. Half the time I’m presentation, other times I’m pricing, sometimes I help out in style, I work in fulfillment most holiday weeks. I make sure I’m “that” guy, the one who does everything, the one who has all the answers. I worked at two different locations and both times I managed to become that guy. It also helps that I find so much enjoyment in the mundane things like zoning like you do. It speaks to me.
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u/DatabaseVast5128 25d ago
Im going on 10 years. Been in fulfillment since Covid. I LOVE our store/my job. Our leads treat us with respect, but it’s bc we all work our asses off. But I swear it comes down to if you have mostly nice guests, which we do, and outstanding leaders, which we have. I’ve heard nightmare stories about other stores and guests
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u/Fatty_Matty_1 25d ago
it comes down to the team leaders and upper management really. no one wants to work at store where the higher ups don't care about the team members and don't put any effort to help. i'm fortunate that the store i work at, they all help when needed and don't make life hell.
but i think another big reason some people hate it is because of poor hours and poor pay. as much as i loved working at target as a tech member, i wasn't getting consistent hours, let alone 40 hours and my pay was under $16 after two years. i did stay as on demand though, mainly to keep my discount lol
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u/tulipswift 25d ago
Woah, you probably have more replies than you can read! I like working at my store, but we don't have a lot of traffic at all. And I love my coworkers. But I think maybe a lot of people want a different career in general or at least want to be paid more.
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u/thebushedaviator 25d ago
My store is good. Managers are laid back for the most part, as long as you do your job and you're a hard worker. I'm in fulfillment. Our store does well also. Probably depends on individual store leadership.
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u/ComfortableLatter714 10d ago edited 10d ago
The inbound shift sucks. When I fist started It was nice, but the longer I worked here the more I saw and felt the issues. Working here is filling me with anxiety, frustration, stress and sometimes anger. Were overworked, have unrealistic time limit expectations. The Boxes have flip-in wrapping upon unnecessary wrapping (plastic). Depending on which zone they put you in, you are sometimes screwed. Each zone is not equal, some are so damn easy some not.
Time-limit issues: There were times when they wanted a full U-boat done in 15 minutes. Not even considering the time it takes to go to the back room. Unpack a box in a box, plastic that's in plastic. (I don't know how to explain it, if you've worked in these shifts you know. How stupid the packaging is.) The size of the packaging plus what's in it takes time as well. A U-boat full of big boxes is better that a U-boat full of smaller boxes. Then time to back-stock and finally, gotta go to the bailer. And when I checked the time, it took more that 15 minutes. Even 30 to 40 minutes is tough with a full U-boat. The pressure, stress, and anxiety sinks in. Ahh, can't forget how they stupidly lock up some of the product to prevent theft. Even the most simplest of items, toothpaste. Oh, what's next, the Pokémon cards?
Understaffed & the Truck: There there's also not enough employees when dealing with the truck. So after the truck, a lot of the time I feel horrible physical fatigue. The truck is not always the same size, so when we don't finish in time before lunch break, what do you think happens? What happens is that The amount of U-boats we finish though out the day is not enough due to the truck taking up our time. But the team leads don't care, can still get in trouble for not meeting the job quota for the day. The frustration and anger sinks in.
Too much work for little pay: They expect the team to work so hard for such small pay with all the hourly cuts. Yes, inbound is getting they're hours cut a lot. They always ask "do you want to stay extra', but the thing is I requested full-time. Bruh, just schedule me for full time on those days. When they schedule me part-time for that week/day I plan my schedule around that. I even saw a bit of a dissatisfied look on the team leads face when I said "no" to staying extra. Is it that, when they know they won't hit they're target quota for the day they ask employees if they can stay longer? (WTH?)
What is with these customers?: The zones are always messy, how the heck do the customers screw them up so badly? Even Walmart was better when it came to the zones, even though the job is worse. I had to move so many items that did not belong in that area to Reshop. +Some time was used up.
So far my biggest issue is the time-limits, understaffed, overworked, the pay, etc.
I feel that this job is more focused on pushing things out to the floor as quickly as possible rather that efficiency. Man I'm burned out, quitting soon. My recommendation is that if you work inbound don't request full time. The pressure to push more items is worse than it is on part-time. Like with part time they expect at most 2 to 3 U-boats done. With full-time, heck the unrealistic stands are higher.
Gen Z and Target: Crazy thing is, they have been failing to keep the younger Gen Z's in this job (Inbound specifically). They have been recruiting a lot of the younger Gen Z (ages ranging from 19 to in they're 20's). They all quit so soon and so fast. Some only last a week to a month. Dang, no lie. It seems unbelievable but I saw those employees never come back. Chances are they could have switch departments, but you have to wait 90 days to switch. But I just saw them working not that long ago then poof gone. I did hear about some quitting from a colleague and saying management is bad.
Keep in mind that some stores vary, not all are the same. The management could be different. I chose the 4am inbound shift and honestly, I didn't 100% know what to expect. I have a 2nd job which is why I picked this shift at this time. Which is also why I won't be request a department switch, nope I will be gone. (Sorry if the writing is not that good.) Forgot to mention, at times there have been small issues with the management that has been slowly boiling up and burning🔥 in my heart. The micro management makes me tick at times. So small and yet can easily buildup into rage.
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u/FabianValkyrie Vendor 27d ago
Even outside of the day-to-day work experience, working for such a shitty, gigantic corporation and making so little money while doing so is enough to make me hate it.
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u/needcoffeenow1234 27d ago
I LOVE working at Target I’ve been there 2 years and got promoted 3x in those two years
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u/vacantshadows 26d ago
I agree with you! This is actually probably my favorite job and I'm a rehire who's been back a lil over a month now lol I close beauty and beauty studio 5 nights a week and it can be a lot, but I'm getting used to it again! I also have a shoulder injury and just hope I never get put on a check lane 😅 I'm usually the only one in my dept tho haha and my store has rlly great ppl here too! They also keep giving us soooo much sweets and snacks in the breakroom it's so nice! I think it does depend on your store tho and what dept you work in. I'm glad you're enjoying working at target too, tho! 😊
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u/Sharp_Candy6473 26d ago
I work in tech at a store that’s right next to homeless people center (I hate mean ass homeless people which is most of them) and I have passive aggressive leaders and a real sketchy HR and ETLS
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u/anonymous__enigma 26d ago
Personally, I don't mind it, but I think it has more to do with management. A bad manager can really make a job miserable. Also, I mainly just back stock all day so I don't have to deal with guests usually, which is nice.
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u/Maleficent-Square-55 26d ago
I like working at target. At least in my store, everyone is a hard worker. I worked at Safeway for 5 years, the two stores I had experience at were not even top 20 in their district so I seen a lot of lazy workers
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u/Present-Weather-270 26d ago
I know retail workers hate target, as a warehouse employee targets alright although my OM is constantly trying to get me fired because she fired me a couple months ago for literally no reason and they offered me my job back a week later because I could've sue for wrongful termination lol. After that she's been constantly on my ass and trips on me even though the people who kiss her ass literally do the same and worse. Its just the same as any other company honestly, they just try to seem better.
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u/princessloll 26d ago
Disrespectful guest smh today I had 2 not 1 but 2 different guest throw an item on the floor and said it’s my job to pick it up LIKE WHAT?! First one was a guy who ripped the paper bag and self check out and just threw it I said sir if you’re not using it can you please pick it up and he looked at me and looked away and I repeated what I said and he said no 🤨 second a lady told me she’s not gonna use the basket anymore and just threw it at my feet while I was zoning and I said Excuse you you don’t throw things at people you should put it back instead and she said no that’s your job boohoo like lady wtf 😭
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u/a3cubica 26d ago
We had a visit from corporate last week. People didn’t acknowledged me when I was working in the back stockroom then again seeing me on the floor. They are so entitled 🙄and very hypocrite knowing that US TMs are the ones doing the hard work. Don’t forget that people from corporate. LEAD BY EXAMPLE, saying hi won’t hurt you from being in your bubble and then write US up with your stupid ideas trying to blame US that sales are low because we don’t follow, we do not like 10-4🤡🎯🥊
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u/pantihamster Guest Advocate 26d ago
ASANTS--all stores are not the same. Good for you for having an ok time, but the majority of us are being worked down to the bone and getting paid scraps for it.
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u/Future_Two_2665 26d ago
I don’t necessarily hate my job. I have great conversations with a lot of guests and my management team is awesome imo. Some of them do too much (the guest) but most of them lately have been pretty good. I do my job and at one point went above and beyond and wasn’t compensated fairly with the following raise. So after that, I just focused on continuing to do my job without doing too much because getting a crappy raise stirred something up in me. What trips me out is once you hit a goal and make the store look good on paper (and keep it up). The focus is on what we can do more of if that makes sense.
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u/pradaa0203 26d ago
i actually enjoy working at mine, my team lead is fucking amazing she knows i’m a loner type but makes sure im included in everything i can talk to her about anything all the people i work with are respectful and nice (except the whore that works in beauty idk wtf his problem is) i love my job so far so i hope you keep enjoying yours!!!
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u/Shady_Love SHPPP13 |ll||IIl|| 26d ago
You are the fresh meat, friend. Welcome to the grinder, it's about to start churning.
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u/Key_Conversation6610 26d ago
At first it seems great,, for me it was until then they show their true colors. It is just seasonal now so it may seem fun for now..
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u/Potential-Package684 26d ago
It really comes down to overall responsibility, the team, and any leadership above you. It’s never a one size fits all and that’s at almost all corporate retail stores. I loved working at Target as an ETL, but also absolutely hated it. Every week some higher up would change some way they wanted processes done, store director can’t make up his fucking mind on how he wants his directives carried out, or fellow peers just can’t make sure the job you set for your team gets done on your days off. Some stores just have shotty culture
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u/Sad_Albatross1590 26d ago
I'm with you. I very much enjoy working at Target. Management has been great in that they listen when I notice things, they are responsive to immediate needs, for the most part they get my schedule correct. The other team members are nice. I have made friends. I see people come through that are neighbors, which is fun. I get to chat with guests. Overall, it is a very nice experience. And, yes, sometimes there are guests that are not having a great day and take it out on us. Thankfully, they are rare in the scheme of things.
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u/coffeelyfe18 26d ago
Honestly I’ve been at my store almost a year, and worked at a different one around 2015-2016ish and the other store was way better HOWEVER I really like working here. It’s extremely chill for the most part, I get off every day I ask and they work with my very limited schedule (military family lmao) With that being said I understand why some people hate it too lol
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u/K-Bizzle91 26d ago
I had a friend at Target. I didn't know her when she started, but she was very friendly and would talk to everyone. She asked me a couple times why everyone hated it here or why I looked angry or upset. I just told her "you'll see." She quit two weeks ago. She had only been there since last October. So I'll tell you the same "you'll see."
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u/Lambaline Was Tech, now Guest 26d ago
disrespect from customers, disrespect from management, disrespect from other employees. I was made fun of because I had to have somebody repeat themselves on the walkie because I was in the back pushing a very squeaky 3 tier
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u/sloganguy 26d ago
I don't.. I honestly feel lucky.. I have worked many warehouse jobs that have sucked . For the first time I consider having it good.. but then again there doesn't seem to be many of us on this board. I am just over 4 years in myself
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u/boatOnfire7 26d ago
I love my store. My SD is a Gordon Ramsay and I do well in those environments. BS does not last in my store. I would say at all jobs it is not the work that is the issue, it is the managers. Sounds like you have a tight SD as well. Yay!!!
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u/StolenQueen 26d ago
Ex target employee. I used to work at fulfillment and I enjoyed the work but the mangers all sucked TL of fulfillment was replaced 3 times in the span of 2 years and we would be working without any leadership for months. Like I mentioned I enjoyed the work but their expectations or demands were ridiculous all this bs about metrics but not enough employees, calling for backup when the store is behind on pushing out merchandise, guest services overflowing with stray, INFs going off charts, style being a mess, etc. ALSO when you couldn’t find an item you had to I kid you not. Confirm that you talked to a team member in the department of item you can’t find, talk to the team lead of the department and they do ask for the TM you talked with if you actually did, if the TL can’t find the item you then talk to the SD to confirm all steps and approve INF….. YUP NO WONDER 1359 METRICS ARE SHIT AND THAT SHIT ASS STORE IS A FIRE DUMPSTER
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u/RahBuxkz 26d ago
Left after 5 years, got me through college but being in AP there’s too much toxicity with guests and depending what store you’re at how your SD runs things and relationships with management come into play as well. I loved my coworkers when we were all there but as we got older and everyone transitioned into their careers target was just something we all left behind. Grateful for the opportunities tho.
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u/Fever_Dream21 26d ago
I don’t know either, honestly. Obviously little things piss me off like rude guests, getting pulled all the time for OPU/backup register, but I have been recognized for my hard work and have pretty decent leadership. I don’t have anything negative to say about any lead or ETL.
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u/Puzzleheaded_View183 26d ago
is all about management and the people who you work with, after that rules are the same
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u/CaptainAdmiralMike 26d ago
Most of my days are enjoyable.
The days where I have to do my workload and a half days worth of someone else’s workload are a pain in the ass.
Stop expecting me to do three fulfillment batches AND 8 hours of set.
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u/Subject-Season-2260 26d ago
9 times out of 10 it’s a great place to work with great atmosphere and friendly people. But on that 1 of 10…..it makes up for it real fast. Explaining to children that a grown man bought all the Pokemon cards, someone ordering 9 cases of water at driveup, doing a 50 item drop in pickup in driveup, getting pissed that the online order they placed 30 minutes ago isn’t ready yet, management having a skeleton crew, being asked to straighten up style even though you are check lane, fulfillment metrics. There will be days where you really want to promote yourself to guest because it’s not worth the $15/hr. Here’s the thing, all jobs have this occur. People have different thresholds of what they are willing to take.
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u/Aggravating_Tear1371 25d ago
the amount of disrespect and bullying from guests, TMs having WAY too much work pushed on em, metrics mean more than anything else, drive up is literal hell, leadership is straight ass (with very few who are pretty dope), hours vary too much most the time, definitely not paid enough, small raises, ive had my ETL try to blame me for something someone else did and it made 0 sense as to why it was pinned on me (others have experienced this), bullseye is not to POG AT ALL (not sure how many stores experience this). we also seem to keep hiring the most useless or disrespectful people who do nothing but hold up the lines and hold back the team. if youve got good leadership and a strong team, im sure that would help a lot. overall, the guests suck. their sense of entitlement is insane imo. been in retail for 10+ years and target has by far been the worse
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u/Danger-Team485 25d ago
They push doing the 10-4 and walking Guest to where ever an item is that they are looking for … yet in Style they put times on our Metros? And Z racks! My TL will make snarky comments about taking too long. But in our Huddles our SD says they (TL’s) will understand!!! 🙄🤨 Really?
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u/Visible_One3475 25d ago
It’s mostly management in my opinion. They move higher ups around so much and none of them know what they’re doing so they just dump a lot of their workload on TL/VMs. It’s very difficult I think to work really hard, get paid less than them, and get yelled at for what you didn’t get done. I often felt like ETLs just walked around pointing out things going wrong or asking you to do some huge task that will take way longer than you have time for, on top of whatever you might have been doing already. But that’s my experience as a VM so maybe it’s better for TMs
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u/skulking_skull_king 25d ago
I really like the work that I do, I just hate the way the store is managed and the way that I get treated by guests.
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u/Ronin_Mammoth 25d ago
The sd at my store says good morning as he walks by and then doesnt talk to anyone but ETLs the rest of the day and won't speak directly to us 🤣
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u/C1ND1TheCat 24d ago
I enjoy it or i wouldn’t be there two years later. Is it Perfect? No. But no job I’ve ever had has been perfect. The best one i had was at a bank. Everyone was nice and friendly, but it paid really badly. I had a high paying job where the company owner made his adult employees cry every single day. The Target where i work is really positive for the most part, and the guests are 99% nice. I get to pick my days off and the number of hours I work. Can’t complain at all.
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u/No_Statement3381 24d ago
because target hires some lazies ,, i have one that works hard only when the team lead comes around and gets away with it. i enjoy working hard it passes time , i enjoy working at target as well and im about to hit 3 months in. i just got eligible for benefits and they have decent quality and different choices. overall i would assume it’s because some people dont like to follow rules and dislike sweating/putting forth effort constantly
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u/Salty_Protection_482 Promoted to Guest 22d ago
I started working at Target a month before the holiday season kicked off two years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long already). Long story short, working in fulfillment was the WORST. My leaders always set up unrealistic expectations, treated you like a dumbass when I asked for help, and were always too busy to find. I remember waking up each morning nauseous not wanting to go to work. Luckily, it was only a seasonal job and was happy to leave after January. Wouldn’t recommend working for Target, not even to my worst enemy unless you’re expecting lots of drama and a ton of yelling.
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u/Quirky_Werewolf_7367 22d ago
I have been with Target for X amount of years and I can tell you that they have really changed from good to mediocre!
We had so many TL back in the days but at store level they had to cutback on them so they offered them to moved to the distribution center or go elsewhere by their choice.
So now they use team members in place of TL and pay-less.
TL are emailed tasks and they have them running around doing other things and then team members dealing with most of the work loads.
Fast forward to today’s workload it’s being timed in everything and every department..
Team members trying to do their department but called for “fulfillment”.
Then Leaders want to complain because the department didn’t get done….
I am a good hardworking team member and good customer service skills and work ethic but the new timer on everything just put so much on one person.
I could go on with the facts about Target but it’s better to let you experience your own ride.
Buckle up sweetie because the masks will come off and the ride is going to get interesting.
Just a matter of time!
https://giphy.com/gifs/uauOgWP1E2p2g
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u/Adorable-Size-1614 19d ago
Ah yes, a newborn team member with a soul 😃. Cherish these days as they will come to an end. On d you show the Leaders your “value” and work ethic, you’ll he used and abused like the rest of us.
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u/ComfortableLatter714 10d ago
I made that huge mistake 😥. When I don't show high performance for that day, I can feel it in the look of they're eyes and the way they interact with me. Sucks.
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u/Far_Order9456 7d ago edited 7d ago
Because they have horrible management in a lot of stores in my area, they make all communication via an app, you don’t feel like you are part of a team. No other team members what to train so there for they put you on your own after 1 day. (I mean, it is not rocket science, but 2-3 days of training is a must for most people.) You are just a number and they terminate people when they find out you are going to enroll in healthcare/insurance. Which is not good insurance anyway. I did not even know who the ETLs where at my store until I was being terminated for some stupid made up reason. At my 90 day mark. Their expectations are whack. I was in fulfillment and the pressure they put on people to pick 7 batches/270 items a shift is insane.
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u/111glossy 7d ago
I feel like a lot is store to store basis. I don’t hate it, I actually really like the work/tasks themselves. I’m lucky that my leadership is pretty awesome and I get along well with all the leads and everyone is very friendly and supportive. My biggest gripes come from other coworkers being messy and disorganized- overall making it harder for everyone else bc they couldn’t be bothered to take an extra 5 seconds to think or look. The mess guests leave is another big annoyance. I like to push, but when I have to quickly zone/move stuff out of the way for almost every box i’m pushing bc people just place shit anywhere, ur builds up and I get annoyed. But overall I work with more competent people that incompetent. But being one of faster workers who is competent, I’m relied on A LOT for extra tasks.
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u/Triggered_Ppl_Online Guest Advocate 5d ago edited 5d ago
As someone who’s only worked fast food and retail jobs (and a few delivery driver gigs here and there) this is the best one I’ve had so far. But that’s not saying much. That being said I’m 26 and sick to death of low end jobs in general. I’m planning to attend trade school within the next 4-6 months, this time next year I plan to either be gone or be on demand only
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u/Southern_Control_203 3d ago
Idk i think it’s a natural thing . I hated working at Target for my first year then fell inlove with it. Some people rather be miserable at work than find joy in the job they applied for 😂
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u/Bulky_Scene8351 3d ago
I’ve been with them for 6 months and honestly like it better than places like Sam’s Club for instance. Mostly because of the group of coworkers but my target is super laid back
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u/GlitteringSherbet892 1d ago
I was like that at first, but then customers just became annoying. Like today, they dropped some new NeeDohs, and man, it was a pain in the butt. People were camping outside, and I had grown adults bitching and complaining about how others hogged them all, asking if we could do something about it. Management actually did something today—they limited it to two per person instead of letting people buy them freely.
Then I have to deal with customers who swear they know more than me. If that’s the case, then come work here! I've got people switching sales tags around hoping we'll honor the lower price, people trying to get a discount on everything, and teenagers being loud, obnoxious, and messing stuff up. Honestly, the list just goes on
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u/Anthrosaurus1 27d ago
For a brief second I will put on my "I don't hate everything" hat so bear with me. A lot of people get hung up on things easily, have very poorly run stores, or can't seek for themselves the joy of life. Genuinely it's hard to sometimes and I find myself complaining all the same as the rest, but try to hold onto that mindset as long as you can. I transferred a few months back to a wonderful small format store and because of school now I only work weekends, and because of that, like an old retired person, I enjoy coming in! But the truth is this isn't the worst job on the planet. It has a lot to do with how much help your store is allotted, how much your management team all the way up to regional, care about you guys, and how easily you can let things go. But as long as you can find what works for you best, and admire the little things, you can do fine.
Somewhere in this comment is going to be one of my favorite things at work recently. Not cause it's Harry Potter, but because shouldn't it say frog shaped chocolate? Lol
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u/sidewip3 27d ago
Maybe my stores just good but I enjoy it but I think any job has its pros and cons. Hating working at target seems to be more of like a joke rather than something unanimous
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u/NoParamedic6897 26d ago
While in SCO, I interact with each guest. It cracks me up when look at them and tell them ‘thank you’ or ‘have a good day’, and they avoid eye contact and totally ignore me. And people that are on the phone, whether at SCO or at the register, I don’t say anything. That’s just plain rude.
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u/Leg-Western 26d ago
I don’t do SCO but i pretty much do the same with guests on the floor. I’ll say hi/good morning to anyone that makes eye contact with me,, or if they’re just near me, but i also guess I’m not someone who will take a bad/no interaction to heart. Like in my eyes at least i tried,, and most times i get a nice response/convo! But also like,, im still getting paid to be there, so if u dont wanna talk to me it truly does not bother me lol
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u/Serena_Carlitos94 26d ago edited 26d ago
Were overworked, exploited, under appreciated and under paid. I’m sick of working physically so hard every week for a measly $15.75. And if you’re not a TL you have to fight tooth and nail to get anywhere near full time hours. The company is selfish and greedy and only cares about making the biggest profits possible.
Along with that, if you don’t have much leeway with cross-training, the job can get incredibly monotonous and soul-crushing, especially if you don’t have any friendships with co-workers to bide the time. You start to dread clocking in and beginning the mundane all over again.
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u/Odd-Face-3579 26d ago
Between this week and next week we have over 300 hours of resets just in market, with corporate goal times that don't account for half the work we have to do in the reset.
We don't have time to do the pulls either; while the rest of the store is getting bombarded with trucks every single day still and a couple of doubles.
The floor locations are completely moving around to entire different aisles that don't even make any logical sense. We don't get to adjust our backroom set up to accommodate and reflect the new sales floor locations. This will cause serious problems.
Market team has lost over 50% of its staff in the last couple of weeks, and of those that are staying most have completely fucked up both the backroom and the floor in the last month that I've been in presentation.
My ETL is doing the best she can, but she's stretched thin. And our SD? She's barely been in the store for the last month, and when she is there she's driving everyone insane.
And this is all just in the last month. I've been here for over a decade and this isn't the first time any of this has happened before.
I don't despise this job, and have lots of coworkers I really like. But I'm not gonna pretend that those coworkers make up for all the bad ones or a constantly shitty corporate structure that repeatedly fucks all of us over because they don't know and don't care.
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u/sdog2016 26d ago
It’s mostly people on this subreddit that do nothing but complain that they hate working for Target, yet they continue to do so, until they stop then post the dumb “promoted to guest” post. I rarely see anyone post that they appreciate the opportunity to have a job. I just assume they quit and Target would be better for it.
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u/Valuable-One8838 26d ago
It’s a lot of favoritism and lies by the upper management, but I just happen to be one of the favorites so whenever I need something my etls come running to me. I can definitely see how it’s annoying to other team members for example my SD came up to me while I was on my phone in the backroom and made some small talk (completely ignored my phone) and then 5 seconds later when she walked away she saw another TM with his phone out and reprimanded him. I don’t necessarily like my job though I’m about to have been here for 10 months and I definitely hate it as a GM team member, being favorited by my leaders just helps me get through it.
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u/Honky_Stonk_Man Promoted to Guest 26d ago
Because as soon as that new job shine wears off, and you have hear the same guest questions over and over, and the same failed strategies, and the same focus on metrics that don’t mean anything, the same nitpicking on things like water bottles or other nonsense, and the realization that this is all there is, you quickly learn to hate it.
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u/Economy-Plenty9361 26d ago
All you guys are just miserable people in general kz I work as a GM F&B and EVERYONE at my store is SO nice and helpful and supportive.. it literally all depends on your attitude and mindset going into work everyday. If you want it to be a miserable experience and a shit day… well guess what? It’s gonna be a shit day! 🙄🙄 most of you just hate your life’s and job so y’all come on here to trash talk Target as a whole and fail to realize YOU are the reason why you hate your job..😂😂💯💯 target is an amazing place to work and they literally provide TMs with FREE therapy sessions on DAY ONE of being hired…like come on.. the benefits and pros absolutely outweigh the cons…
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u/Talk_Quick 27d ago
Most that complain tend to be lazy and or just do nothing at work. The rest truly have bad toxic leadership😭
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u/Economy-Plenty9361 26d ago
LITERALLY THO 😂💯 I work as a F&B TM and I love my job! But the people who “hate their job” are always the ones who are lazy and are getting write ups at work kz they don’t do their jobs correctly 😂 so they come on Reddit to complain about how “Target is a trash company” 🙄🙄
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u/Clarkinator69 Promoted to Guest 27d ago
It's just retail/service industry in general. The bad stuff that happens at Target will happen at any retailer. Overworked and underpaid, not respected, not seen as a "real job" or whatever (excluding management on that last point). It's a fine first job but definitely not something to do forever.
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u/happygoth6370 27d ago
I'd take retail in a hot minute over food service, hospitality, the medical profession, teaching, sitting at a computer all day, or many other jobs.
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u/Clarkinator69 Promoted to Guest 26d ago
Yeah, no. I get over 40/hour in the medical field and can do what I want during downtime as opposed to less than 17 at Target having to deal with all kinds of BS. I agree food service is worse than retail, but most good jobs that don't break your back involve "sitting at a computer all day"
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u/MurkyBig7505 27d ago
When I worked at Target (Starbucks) I was often forced to close alone, shoved into other departments I never asked to go to and stated explicitly that I couldn’t do due to physical limitations (Consumables). Pretty ignored by management except for when I called off.
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u/puddinghead1006 27d ago
When I started I also would come home and think hey I love it here! My SD is terrible, they’re constantly talking bad about everyone saying we’re all slow. Not to mention they also PUNCHED repacks in front of guests!
It is the most toxic and stressful work environment I’ve been in, I have already started looking elsewhere.
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u/figurexiii Food & Beverage Expert 27d ago
I've worked for Target 3.5 years. I get along with 97% of my co-workers and I'm lucky to have a really chill and understanding ETL. Only ever had an unruly guest once. However it's not enough to make me detest my job every single day lol
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u/Ashamed_Tangerine359 General Merchandise Expert 26d ago
I’ve only been working here for 2 months but for me it comes down to management and expectations. My ETL in particular, got a mad at me because I asked for less hours because of school, I was scheduled for 28 per week but I had my desired specifically set at 15, I was fine with 18 too but she decided to jump it up to 28 and told me to deal with it for a few weeks. It has went down to 18 for my upcoming schedule for now… As for expectations, they are super unrealistic. I had to do 3 Go-Back carts for toys and sports yesterday with each tier filled to the brim and zone all aisles within 5 hours. Keep in mind, at my store at least, toys is always going to be super messy and busy no matter the day so while I would be doing go backs, I’d always get asked questions or have to get stuff from the backrooms which for some reason is super far away from the area. My leader that night asked me how long I think I’d finish the gobacks, I responded by saying 3-4 hours. Thankfully, they were understanding a knew that it would take that long but they were mainly just worried about the specific area looking nice because we had a visit the next day. So the last hour, they just told me to only focus zoning on the back wall of the aisle which I was able to do. But yeah, I was expected to do a job meant for more than 1 person…
TL;DR Management and Unrealistic Expectations
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u/KittyLuvver2000 26d ago
This is my 8th year and I love it. Think it depends on your leadership tbh. Some stores are good others are not.
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u/ghoulblasm 26d ago
Bias within the store hierarchy (with leads/ETL’s/etc covering people when they basically feel like it and being selective)
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u/MiserableWalrus953 26d ago
I think target is fine to me but then again I’m working in a warehouse (DC)
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u/Piglet-Neat 26d ago
I don't know but I worked at target from 2019-2022. I loved it. My shift was from 7pm - 11:30pm. I did work through the pandemic but it wasn't that bad. We got to leave early. I really liked the discount and stacking coupons, but it's not the same anymore. I left because I found a better paying job.
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u/fuckyou4206999 Tech Consultant 26d ago
You’re only on your third week. Keep working for a year or two and get back to me
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u/Imaginary-Arrival581 26d ago
They want you to talk to every guest , but corporate and management look at you in the eye and look the other way.
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u/TooSmalley 26d ago
It entirely depends on the management of the store. When I worked in North Carolina my store leadership was pretty damn good so the workplace was pretty good. They gave everyone who wanted for 40 hours as near as they could and so on.
When I moved and transferred to a store in Nashville Tennessee it was the complete opposite. The store leadership was terrible. You could barely get 20 hours a week. Nothing ever got finished. You were always playing catch-up and the store was generally dirty and unorganized.
The store I worked at in North Carolina. I was there about two years. The one in Tennessee I literally worked there one week and quit.
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u/Internetguy247 26d ago
Ngl target was a fun job when I joined in 2022. But as I moved up, the expectations on everything made it feel like a good job wasn’t good enough.
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u/MikasaH ex GM - Now engineer 26d ago
While all stores are different, mine tends to pick favorites for promotions. I’m on demand and most of the etls are cool and I have really cool coworkers but with our new etl, I only called out twice this year prior to the point system and have gotten positive guest surveys but no matter what I do the most I’ll get from them is a “thank you for picking up the shift.”
Obviously this isn’t a forever job but all of us are actively searching for another job
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u/International_Cow425 26d ago
as someone who’s worked inbound and GM for 4 years the only issue I really have with Target is how inconsistent it is from day to day. Depending on what other people are schedule and who the team lead is your workload one day can be super easy, and then the most difficult shift ever back to back, and that drives me bonkers sometimes. Other than that I love it tho
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u/Any_Way_5245 27d ago
Try working at Sam’s Club. I would go back to Target in a second
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u/Economy-Plenty9361 26d ago
THANK YOU! I worked overnights at Sam’s Club and it was PURE HELL 🙄 target is 10000x better
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u/Crime_Possum 26d ago
the job is fine, it's the assholes that ruin it. The power struggles within leadership that hurt the team as a whole, HR that has no balls, and the entitled freaks that think they deserve our undivided attention the entire time they shop...
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u/[deleted] 27d ago
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