Nearly half of US frontline retail employees and two-thirds of frontline managers say they are thinking about leaving their jobs in the next few months.
If you're wondering why the numbers are so high, you've probably never worked in the industry. And if you're nodding in approval, saying "Good for them," you're definitely a seasoned vet.
Probably nothing illustrates why these folks are so disillusioned better than the subreddit 'Retail Hell.' This place unites 93,000 members, who go there to vent about their entitled customers, toxic bosses, work conditions, and every other problem that they face on a regular basis.
So we at Bored Panda once again decided to feature some of the sub's most popular recent posts and give these tired voices the stage that they deserve.
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We've Had These Kind Of Karens Right
Upvote for being one of the most truthful things I've ever seen.
We Christians have a term for people like that: Holy Rollers. They praise and worship the Son of God who promoted peace on Sunday and then immediately after go and berate retail and service workers Monday-Saturday. Remember, too, it was people like this that got blue laws repealed and then question why all these workers aren't in church.
Fake Christians fr The Bible says to treat people the way you want to be treated and this is definitely not what they are doing!
It's unfortunate that too many people who claim to be Christians give Christians a bad name.
And, afterwards, we'll go to the Magat ralley and prostrate ourselves before a liar, thief, and adulterer.
The more someone brags about following the word of God, the less likely they are to care about the moral principles that actually matter.
Son and I are considering making a tradition of going out with the "church" crowd ... so one worker gets smiles kindness and a 25% tip. We went out last Sunday, the poor lady was miserable. I really hope her day got better.
Just one smile can make your day, so I am sure she felt better after your visit.
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Friend's father owned two restaurants. They didn't open till 4pm on Sundays. For just this reason. Always said he neither needed nor wanted their money.
Around here, the “church crowd” is the absolute worst. They pull 5 tables together. Run the wait staff ragged. Camp out for hours. Demand all separate checks, and don’t tip.
After I treat my waitress like s**t I go to the grocery store and treat my cashier like s**t too.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Simple concept.
I always made sure to have lots to take care of in the stockroom 11-1 on Sundays
Work at the movies tickets are 8.50 from 10-6. Sunday ppl b***h the most about the price and complain they can't use their TUESDAY free ticket on the movie. Also twice I got the "believe in god" fake tip from them. Coworker got a person trying to use it as actual cash
so damn true. the church beside my work had some of the worst people. i always said it was like they'd confessed their sins for the week and that meant they could start again with gusto. honestly, every single person at that church were horrible bar this one family who were an absolute delight! luckily there was a big arguement within the church congregation, everyone stopped going and went to different churches, and it's been all good since. there's a new congregation, and they are a lot nicer! thank goodness!
FACTS!!!! 💯💯💯💯Sundays are the absolute WORST in hospitality and its mostly church goers 🙄
I think a lot of churchies think the same. They've done their part attending once-a-week service, now let's get back to being our over-indulged selves and creating discord wherever we go.
Sunday lunch was the absolute worst, and by the time it calmed down it was just in time for a 30 minute cry/scream in the walk-in before dinner rush!
Some of the worst people on the planet. I hated servicing AND managing on Sunday lunch shifts.
Pious for an hour on Sunday. Absolute evil the remainder of the week
Ask anyone in the restaurant business who the worst customers are and they will all say the church people.
The pastors should do a round of the coffees and restaurants with a good stick...
Tell me you've never worked in retail or food service on a Sunday without telling me.
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Truth For Most Of Us In Retail!!!!
The reason why these memes are so popular on the internet is quite simple. According to McKinsey & Company, around 20 percent of US employees—or approximately 31 million people—work in the retail and hospitality sector.
That is roughly 9 million more employees than in each of the two next-largest industries (the public sector and professional and business services).
If You've Ever Had To Hold Your Tongue, You Know This
Nobody Can Say It Isn’t The Truth
Pocket Money
But this sector faces a much more serious retention challenge than any other.
The quit rate in US retail and hospitality is outpacing the overall US quit rate by more than 70 percent.
Frontline retail employees are recognizing that they have more employment options—and more tools to access them—than ever before.
Be Patient
They wouldn't last one day in a place like that, if they even can't stand the wait?
The Peolpe We Love To Hate
I used to work in a coffee shop with an older lady who didn't take c**p from anyone. One time, a customer came angrily marching back to the bar and said, "Excuse me!? This ISN'T what I ordered!" She looked at the name clearly written on the cup and asked, "Are you Michael?" He huffed, "No!" She exploded, "Then why you take Michael drink!? Jeremy, you deal with him, he crazy!" I loved her so much.
It Would Keep Things Interesting
Murder is little bit too far, but pepper spray would work. One pepper spray per year. If you don't use it somehow, you can transfer it to the next year, up to five years in a row. You can pepper spray customer on behalf of another employee.
Please, God, Nooooooo
Despite that, retail sales in the US, which are adjusted for seasonal swings but not inflation, rose 0.6% in August, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That’s a slightly faster pace than July’s revised 0.5% gain and marks the fifth straight month of growth. It’s also way higher of economists’ expectation of a 0.2% increase.
Yup
Respect The Basics
So foolish to upset the people who are preparing the food you're about to eat!
100% Spot On
I have to laugh. So many times I hear "Please put your items in the bagging area" when, in fact, the poor customers have done exactly that. They take them off, same message, they put them back on, same message. So they stand, confused, taking them off and putting them back on. Same message. Finally they stand there defeated, confused and demoralised until a member of staff releases them from their robotic nightmare.
"August retail sales picked up steam as consumers kept spending, though categories like furniture and home furnishings saw a drop," Bob Phibbs, aka The Retail Doctor, told Bored Panda in an email.
"No matter how much we're being told a recession is 'just around the corner,' people still want to go out, meet [others], and discover what is new."
I See The Signs In Every Retail Store And On Every Public Transport In My City Now
It’s honestly [messed] up that people have become so vile to workers over the last few years that these are needed. And ofc the signs do nothing, people still say whatever they want to your face anyways
The signs are better than nothing but what's really needed is management to have to guts to kick out misbehaving customers. They might lose a customer but it means loads to workers who are constantly abused. They might also find that happier workers are more productive workers.
This Happens Almost Daily
All Of This Requires Effort!
Oh You Poor Little, Naive Lamb
I've worked in retail for over 20 years. I'm now a self employed contractor and today I was replacing a display unit behind a newsagents counter. The young lass handling the customers was awesome. Cheerful, polite, smiling, she was enjoying herself. I made sure to tell the manager I thought she was awesome before i left. It took maybe 10 seconds, if that. I hope he told her my feedback too. It makes a huge difference for someone to be recognised as doing their job well.
"What I'm seeing?" the internationally recognized business strategist and customer service expert asked rhetorically.
"One-person coverage that was needed as the pandemic waned is now the norm. Customer service suffers and store refresh between rushes never happens."
Let It Burn
This Is Just Working Retail Right?
When A Customer Tries The "I'm Never Shopping Here Again" Card
Can You At Least Check For Me!!
Yes there is a special shelf out the back where the one remaining packet will be stored for that one customer who asks.
Phibbs, who also released the book The Retail Doctor's Guide to Growing Your Business, said companies need to hire more people than they think they need.
"Pay as much as it takes to get people who won't quit on day 1 and can think on their feet," he added.
Min Wage
This is a good point. You might need no (or few) qualifications to start in retail or service, years of experience definitely makes a person a skilled worker (in Germany there are qualifications for retail workers and servers that take years to get). They should be paid as such!
“Why Isn’t It Taking My Bills” // “I Asked For Cash Back, Why Isn’t It Giving Me The Money” // Actual Things That Were Said When The Machine Looked Like This
A Friendly Reminder
Human Resources, like natural resources, are there to be exploited in corporate processes and the waste products disposed of as cheaply as possible.
What In The World
So over one comment (which was probably exaggerated anyway) the customer goes onto the dark web, finds out deeply personal information which might actually explain why the worker had a bad day and displays it in public. With a message to *him* to choose kindness. What the actual f**k.
But while we're still waiting for that to happen, fire up our earlier publication on the subreddit, called 40 Pics From “Retail Hell,” A Place Where Retail Workers Come Together And Support Each Other.
It's just as good as this one!
Even Worse Is When It Is A Group Of 5-6
Thank For The Support
Life In Customer Service
Working In A Supermarket Be Like
"It's Says Remove Card, What Do I Do?"
It's Amazing How Many People Are Too Stupid To Read Signs
Boomer Customers
Honestly
How?!?!? Whoever Did This I'd Like To Meet You In The Parking Lot, Just To Talk I Promise
New Hires
I love the enthusiasm of new starters, puts me in a good mood. Genuine, not sarcasm. 😊
Let Me Go Home
The Writers Really Nailed Wha
Customer Induced Insomnia
Oh I Forgot To Get
And they find something else, but don't have enough money for everything and they have to put 3 items back. With attitude. No, you are not allowed to hit them. I've asked.
Oh Hades I Feel This From Both Sides
Note: this post originally had 100 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
What? You mean the images that no longer auto load because the BP users downvoted them? If so, those are still available if one clicks
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Reason why service workers deserve higher pay: You are a customer. End of list.
For f#ck's sakes, how hard is it to be personable to someone for a few seconds?! Also, if someone doesn't act cheerful, no biggie. Maybe they're having a rough day or they're working in retail as a survival job or they're introverts. Still doesn't hurt to say thank-you.
I've done my share of retail. I've done more than my share of food service. Kids, when you get older you'll realize that none of these things are worth being mad about. And that you're a member of the public too and you've also pissed off many employees. We're all stupid. We all sometimes don't see the Restroom sign even though it's above our heads.
How about be nice to people instead of being mean to someone who's done nothing to you because someone else was mean to you
Load More Replies... What? You mean the images that no longer auto load because the BP users downvoted them? If so, those are still available if one clicks
Load More Replies... Reason why service workers deserve higher pay: You are a customer. End of list.
For f#ck's sakes, how hard is it to be personable to someone for a few seconds?! Also, if someone doesn't act cheerful, no biggie. Maybe they're having a rough day or they're working in retail as a survival job or they're introverts. Still doesn't hurt to say thank-you.
I've done my share of retail. I've done more than my share of food service. Kids, when you get older you'll realize that none of these things are worth being mad about. And that you're a member of the public too and you've also pissed off many employees. We're all stupid. We all sometimes don't see the Restroom sign even though it's above our heads.
How about be nice to people instead of being mean to someone who's done nothing to you because someone else was mean to you
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