retail assistant manager

cashier

donation attendant

backroom associate

assistant store manager

Goodwill of WNY

Working here was an eye-opening experience that taught me exactly what it means to lead on a thrift floor. If you want to learn high-volume donation processing and production logistics, this place will give you incredible grit and an unmatched work ethic. 

  The saving grace of this company is the immediate store leadership. The Store Manager was a true mentor to me, and alongside the Assistant Manager, they ran the building with genuine care, empathy, and dedication. They built a strong, loyal crew on the floor. 

 However, there is a massive disconnect between the store level and upper management. The district leadership was extraordinarily condescending when speaking to frontline employees and took an almost toxic, aggressive approach when addressing store-level management, which severely hurts morale. 

     Furthermore, there is a deep systemic paradox within the organization. While the mission is to fund job programs for the underemployed, the corporate structure itself limits its own people. This was highlighted perfectly this past May, when the CEO literally gave a speech articulating the 'paradox of the high performer from the employer's perspective'—essentially outlining the exact glass ceiling that keeps elite workers trapped in place. 
 
 Despite the organization's high-level contradictions, the Store Manager gave me the tools, confidence, and training I needed to smash right through that ceiling anyway. I would highly recommend working at this location, but only because of the incredible Store Manager and Assistant Manager currently steering the ship.

Just to start off with an example of how unorganized this WNY company is as an Assistant store manager making $9.25 and they were posting job openings at different store for the same position offering $10/hour. The head supervisor has no credentials to be running a company, she has an associates degree in electronic sales and no experience in any of the stores let alone a clothing retail store. Even if you receive no donations from the warehouse you are still required to make your production goals, and if not met you are held responsible along with your store manager. You have to do back breaking work in the back cages, lifting over 50lbs daily with minimal safety gear. You are essentially digging through all the garbage people donate as an assistant store manager trying to find acceptable donations to put onto the floor, they do not sift through donations at the warehouse. You will be looking for nothing but stress at this job along with a lot of unanswered emails, and if your emails to get answered this supervisor will do nothing but belittle you.

most of the stuff y’all donate goes to landfills in other countries, every member of staff especially management is immature no matter their age, there seems to be no real veteran job training program but you still have to ask for those donations! if you’re understaffed which you almost always are you will be expected to do the work of four people while also manning the register, the management will tell you one thing to your face then say the opposite the moment you’re gone and above all else they will play favourites. this is a good place to work if you are looking for immature people to make petty drama in your life, nobody seems to be able to shut up and just do their jobs they always have something to complain about for some reason. all i’m saying is run as fast as you can and don’t look back. the entire company is currently circling the drain, don’t go down with them

It’s basic retail. You stock, put clothing and housewares away and cashier. You are constantly moving. Always something to do. The management is awful. The store manager is old enough to be my grandma, and acts like a immature kid. They act like you have to be a scientist working at NASA.. a 10 year old could do the job. There’s a few regular workers that are nice. But other than that it’s like being in junior Highschool.. 
You can have the best work ethic, have high productivity. But they judge your productivity on how many round-up your change donations you can get for the “local veterans.” They don’t support nothing! I wouldn’t recommend anyone working here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people you work with on a day to day basis are typically great; everyone pitches in to do their part

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Upper management is borderline abusive and completely incompetent. They push minimum wage employees to hit very difficult objectives when the job itself is completely arbitrary and based on the quality of the items you’re given.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
One of their core values is “we win together” but frankly every day feels like you’re just trying not to lose.

Job itself was great. Never been happier as far as dealing with the donors and interactions on a daily basis. But as far as The complete joy in the job itself it was the exact opposite dealing with Management.  Felt like I was in the Military,  no Compassion , Pretend to care but dosent . In all my years on this planet never felt more so disrespected and talked down to in my life . Absolutely no respect and it's sad because this was the best job I ever had minus The Management and paying new employees more than the ones already there

I interned at Goodwill to gain more experience in retail and social media management. Working in the store, we were expected to keep the sales floor tidy and organized, as well as use visual merchandising skills to dress the mannequins and display furniture in a pleasing and aesthetic way. The store manager I worked with was amazing, and let me use my creative abilities to make the store look nice. I worked with the Social Media Team and learned a lot during my time with them. They were super easy to communicate with and share ideas with. Seeing my hard work pay off in the store and online was definitely worth it :)

What is the best part of working at the company?
Interacting with the customers 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The management and lack of communication

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work is fast paced but made very stressful and by the management or lack thereof

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Arriving, getting assignments and assisting customers with locating & or purchases.

I have worked with several organizations, and what I appreciate most about Goodwill of WNY is their commitment to professional development. They recognize that investing in their staff ultimately contributes to organizational growth. The culture encourages openness to new ideas at all levels, and employees are heard when they approach discussions with a solution-oriented mindset rather than focusing on complaints.

If you love digging through garbage, unhealthy work environments, toxic coworkers, drama, stress, and favoritism then this is the place for you! 
Upper management will demand you to hit unrealistic goals so if you like stressing out then you’ll love your workday here! 
And you get to do it while being underpaid! Doesn’t get much better than that. 
But in all seriousness, one of the best days of my life was the day I walked out those doors and never looked back. 
Save yourself the trouble. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail assistant manager 32 salaries reported	$17.03 per hour
Cashier 79 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Donation attendant 43 salaries reported	$17.03 per hour
Backroom associate 55 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Assistant store manager 26 salaries reported	$22.13 per hour

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