toxic, humiliating, condescending - Designer Aritzia Employee Review

1.0
Jan 28, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

very good pay, fun city (Vancouver), good discounts, welcoming and professional treatment until the first day on the job

Cons

- worst job I ever had - toxic atmosphere, humiliating communication , dehumanizing treatment by managers and directors - insane work hours from day one: weekend and late night work always expected, weird looks if you want to take vacation - they have certain protective rules in place but your manager will get mad if you actually point those out. (At the beginning you are not to work at the weekends, you won’t get access to servers, but they make you work nonetheless) - getting „scolded“ like a child in front of collegues for not behaving exactly the way your manager envisioned - directors with obvious social disorder, making people in meetings so uncomfortable they start crying. Nobody dares to ever speak up because it is known such people get terminated - reports of unprofessional, psychologically abusive behavior to management will be reportet back to the abuser instead of protecting the person who suffered - abusers are being protected at all costs - management uses fear strategies as tools to make employees work even harder - praise is given to people in team meetings who sacrifies a vacation, a birthday of a loved one, or a bank holiday for a semi-urgent task - they describe their toxic work culture as high „performance culture“ which serves as a great excuse to create unhealthy competition between „team“ members - they make you sign an agreement to not work at any competitor for a year after Aritzia which makes it impossible to work anywhere within the clothing industry afterwards unless you switch careers (lol) - they make you sign NDA‘s to shut you up about mistreatment - they want every employee to use their special Aritzia language with lots of abbreviations and specific words no other company uses. Like this they can spot how fast you shed off your personal style and become one of them - you will probably develop ptsd, a sleeping disorder, loose social contacts - you might develop paranoia because they try to control every aspect of your personal life, wanting to know what you do at all times, why you have to go to the doctor, why you want to book a vacation, why you need any personal time etc. - your manager might share personal details you told them in private in team meetings - your director might create impossible scenarios to ridicule you in front of others to teach you a lesson and make you obey better - don’t ever question anything, you are nothing, you know nothing - don’t show any personal needs, you are not supposed to be human, you are a working robot who always agrees to whatever task outside your job description

Explore other reviews about Aritzia

5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Great team of girls to work with

Cons

- Quite boring during quiet hours - Discount for boutique associates isn't the same as sales associates

1.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- competitive pay/higher than average pay - holiday pay/incentives - employee discounts

Cons

If you are offered an interview, your personality and attractiveness will matter more than your previous work experience. I came into the company with 5+ years of retail sales experience just to be constantly told that I was not ready to sell on the floor. If you decide to work here, just be prepared to be judged based off your looks 24/7, (and yes, if you’re a shopper, you’re 100% being judged as well.) As an employee, you will constantly need to keep track of your performance, and your numbers will be posted for all employees to see. This creates a very competitive and disingenuous work environment. It can get hostile. If you are just starting off, or at the bottom, management will work you to death and dangle better shifts or promotions over your head for you to prove yourself, just to turn around and outsource hire to fill the position, or not guarantee your scheduled hours. If you are injured on the job, disabled, become pregnant, or experience loss, I would just start looking for another job because they will not accommodate you, and will slowly phase you out and off of the schedule (even if you’ve been with the company for years). It feels like working at a sorority or being a part of a high school clique full of mean girls competing in a make-believe popularity contest. If you don’t subscribe to the cliquey-ness, be mentally prepared to be ostracized and left out of social events. And this is me barely scratching the surface when it comes to cons.

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