Urban Outfitters reviews

You can tell right away that the management were the type of people who were bullied in high school and now that they have a little bit of power at their middle management retail job they use it to extract revenge on their teenage staff. Gossip, backstabbing, bullying, favouritism, and collusion was very common amongst management - who are supposed to be role models and leaders in the store. If management could find even the smallest reason to dislike you they would victimize you with either bad scheduling or placing you in zones of the store generally considered to be the worst areas (greet, sale), ignoring your pages for customer assistance or giving associates attitude when they ask for something as simple as a bathroom break or a drink of water. Advancement in the store was solely based on how much the ruling class of management liked you - if they saw you as somebody they would want to "get drinks with after work". Numerous incompetent, unprofessional, and vindictive people were promoted throughout my tenure, while loyal, hardworking, and dedicated candidates were passed up - often times an employee interviewing for a promotion would never be told if they got the job or not and would be left in limbo for weeks wondering what was going on. Management turned a blind eye to mental health issues within the store - and often times their callousness and victimization was the cause of people's misery. Having witnessed several breakdowns of associates at the store, these employees were simply told to suck it up and get back to work. Little care was given to the stresses of day to day life and outside issues - employees were scheduled during classes, exams, family visits, vacations - despite providing notice of these obligations - and would be given attitude by management when requesting alternate accommodations. When sales were down you could be sent home from your shift with no notice - your schedule would show you for a 7 hour shift but you'd be sent home after 3 - with no regard given to travel time, transportation costs, life expenses of employees etc. The HR hotline was fake and lead to a voicemail that was never checked. Issues brought to district management were immediately dismissed since these people higher up were buddies with the store management. Any employee complaint was brushed under the rug and any employee that spoke up for themselves was then ostracized and mistreated by management, often times until that person simply broke down and quit.

The Urban Outfitters I worked at fostered an environment of competition. It was constantly like a popularity contest between employees, especially with choosing favourites when large numbers of new employees were hired. There's a whole social aspect as well, where you suffer at work if you don't party with the other employees, especially long-standing ones. The gossip was at times unbearable. I experienced on several occasions, managers exercising favouritism where more popular employees would be asked to do more desirable tasks (flying a drone around the store vs. cleaning a back room). The management team is noticeably easier on male employees, to the point where even those employees noticed and would joke about it. There is an underlying feeling of competition with female employees, making the workplace uncomfortable and positive exchanges disingenuous. I would leave work with my self-image and self-esteem feeling low. I was constantly booked outside of my availability. This was common, even with availability given in writing. 'Mandatory' overnight shifts would be booked a day before several employees had classes the following morning. Managers would promise the shift would be over by 2am when in reality we had to stay until almost 5am. There were little to no opportunities to move up in the company. There are so many employees and so little positions aside from being a sales associate. Some employees would work strictly Team Lead shifts (a position overseeing associates) for weeks without being paid as a Team Lead. Because you must have your bag looked through before leaving the store, I would often wait for almost half of my break time just to be searched so I could go and get something to eat. Whenever there was a mistake made with merchandise not having security tags or put in the wrong place, you would almost immediately be accused of attempting to steal. The job was fun at first but after a year I dreaded going to work.