retail sales associate

seasonal retail sales associate

sales associate

cosmetics sales associate

asset protection specialist

Macys

I worked at both one of the top Macy's in the country, and a small neighborhood one. I worked seasonal twice at the major Macy's, and I thought I hated it there because they treated their seasonal workers so poorly- no sense that you belonged there, a sorry excuse for training, if you could even call it that, and just a tedious job with no sense of accomplishment overall. I made minimum wage, but since it was California, that wasn't so bad- when I left, it was $11 at the time. 

Then I go to work in Florida, in a small town Macy's, and I laugh at how I thought the California store I worked at was bad. Horrendous management, bare bones staffing 85% of the time that got even worse, to the point where you were never guaranteed your 15min breaks and had to call a manager to get someone to cover it for you, IF there was anyone there. You feel like a school kid asking (which was what I was treated like anyways, since I look pretty young), both for your breaks and bathroom breaks, unless there's someone in a nearby department that isn't essential that can cover for you, or if you're in one of those departments yourself (and that's basically impossible, because we usually only had one person per department, and they stopped staffing the non essential departments and would only really do it on weekends, some times). They expected us to do the work of 2 departments after we heard we were making more financial cuts, for absolutely no compensation, on 2 different sides of the store. The one department the other was consolidated with was already a large department and impossible to handle both recovery and register alone, which- you WERE all the time. Only ever staffed a morning shift and night shift person in each department, you'd have maybe an hour working with someone else before you were on your own. Managers never stepped up to help or cover so you could take a break, if there wasn't anyone to cover you, you'd just have to wait for someone. Or maybe they would, but I wasn't friends with any of them, and they only did favors and gossiped about everyone in store with their friends. Sometimes some managers would have their friends they were talking with answer their work phones and joke over it. Incredibly unproffessional- I know it's a small store and not that busy, but my god, have some sense of professionalism as a manager! The store manager I had when I first got hired there thought I was pregnant and asked me about "the baby", I told her I didn't have one, then she ARGUED with me over it. Then she proceeded to tell me my skirt was too short (had been fine all the times I had worn it before), and to make friends with the customers because being friendly wasn't enough. Mind you, for ONLY $9 an hour. Not to mention she insulted me at every chance she could get and answered my questions by yelling the question back, and looked for every chance to provoke me into getting angry so she'd have an excuse to fire me, because I could never open enough credit cards. We were in a small store in a low income area, and majority of customers already had a card. She expected you to badger and harass everyone to get a card, which I was not comfortable with and neither were the customers. I was usually hounded about opening credit cards, but it was honestly a game of luck because of our location.

Bad management and my personal experiences aside, I cannot even begin to describe my anger at the company in how HORRIBLY they treat their employees. They are a failing company because they refuse to keep up with the times, did it little too late, and REFUSE to treat their employees well. In my Florida store alone, my co-workers took it as a source of PRIDE not to take 15 min breaks. What kind of store culture do you have to have to make the employees think that's okay? The beginning of this year, we had to watch a company video on why them firing so many people and closing so many stores was a GOOD thing, because the stores were becoming more efficient and had more space for products, and the customers loved it because it gave them confidence and made them more self-sufficient. If you have ever worked any sort of customer service, you know how much of a lie that is. Employees could not change prices for employees off the clock purchasing something even if the price marked was WRONG- which in my store, often was because it was a two day process changing prices for sales. Then for a whole day or more, sales would not ring up on the register because the sale was not in effect for at least another day, but the signs reflected it. You can imagine how upset it made both parties involved in a transaction. we'd MAYBE have one scanner per one counter in each department for us to use to reflect the accurate price, and if you didn't have one- shrug emoji. 

Once COVID started, it was a nightmare in how the company managed it. They paid us for 2 weeks for our minimum hours a week when we first closed, the first to supplement our last work week and one for the week off after (and for me, my min hours were 12 a week, which meant only $96 a week). After we shut down, they dropped everyone off the payroll as soon as they humanly could. Of course in the email the CEO sent, he called it a "gut-wrenching decision". They then pleaded for us to contact our state senators so they could be bailed out- with none of that money going to us, of course. Anyone who had PTO saved was not allowed to use it, and we were gladly told we could apply for unemployment- which did end up paying more in 2 weeks than I could make in 2-3 months with this store. Then this past week, in only a few hours notice, they sent an email stating that those of us who would be returning from furlough would be back to work within a week, and those of us who were not would be fired that day with a phone call from our managers. Of course, I got that phone call, and I was dumped with a ceremonius script the manager read back to me, saying she was "here for me" while I tried not to cry over the phone. Also, part of the script informed me that the company "respected the dignity" of its workers, so basically don't tell anyone you were fired until they called everyone else that day.

In summary, Macy's is falling apart due to its own failures and lack of care for it's employees, and you lose some dignity working for them. If you do work for them, for your sake, I hope it's in a bigger store in a busier or more populated area. I wasted the past year of my life in my small town one, and was fired in as big as a mockery as the job itself was. Co-workers and management make or break the job, and I was stuck with the worst, but it's not a good work environment or a fulfilling job in general. Flexibility in schedule most of the time means they just don't schedule you ever and give you your exact bare minimum hours unless you can trade shifts or even more rare, pick up some. Every part of this job is as insulting as the last. 

This will be a long read, but it is my experience working for Macy's.

I worked for Macy's as an Asset Protection Detective for about 4 months. The first month went by fairly smooth, with the only downside being that my manager, who was supposed to do the majority of my training, put if off on my partner to do, who was trained by her partner. I completed all of my training in 3 weeks but had to wait an additional week to fully be approved to make apprehensions because my manager was gone for a week of my training and needed to go over it, and then her higher up who actually authorizes us to make apprehensions was too busy. But once he had time, I got approved. Immediately after completing everything and starting floor work, the harassment began. My manager was female and so was my partner. No male in the past several years has made it past 6 months being under her, they all resign. Once I began floor observations, I did them how I was taught to and how my partner does them, my partner also got continuously praised for how she did things. Immediately I am pulled into her office on several occasions to be reprimanded for not doing things the right way, or wasting time talking to colleagues (asking them to customer service the shoplifters). My manager even pulled video of me at a register to try to get me into trouble for talking to associates, which my partner showed me later, and pointed out that I was at the register for at most 30 seconds. 3 months in and the probationary period is up, I have 3 apprehensions and tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise kept in the store because of my partner and myself. Before I got there, they went over 6 months without a single apprehension. So, thinking a common practice is a 90 day review with a raise being talked about, I approach my manager about it. The response I got was "you're pretty outspoken for a 19 year old just learning his place". She then proceeded to tell me I was already making more than I should be, that 10 cents over minimum wage is what someone with a year of experience should be getting paid based on a company pay chart, I point out that average for Asset Protection people in our city starting is $14-16 an hour and she quiets a bit before repeating the age comment. She proceeds to reprimand me for the way I work, I leave her office and continue doing my job. Soon after, I start dating a colleague, which I looked into to make sure broke no policies. It broke none. The policies for workplace relationships are relationships by family, marriage, and managers dating subordinates. My position and the relationship met none of these so I was in the clear. Our managers talked to us separately, saying it wasn't allowed. I fought it and told my manager it broke no policies, she insisted it did and told me I can resign or transfer (it would have to be an out of state transfer which isn't legally allowed, but they could just force me to resign). After a couple weeks of our jobs being threatened(mostly mine) I submit my two weeks notice. The day I submit my two weeks, my partner and I attempt an apprehension where I get punched in the face twice, and in the chest. After the cops come and arrest the subject for robbery, my manger finally comes out and pulls my partner away from me about 15 feet and starts whispering while occasionally looking back at me. My manager was trying to get my partner to say that I messed up, which I hadn't, and did my best to make sure this guy didn't go after her, he was drunk and yeah, the punches hurt a bit. By the time I left, I had $13,000 in merchandise recovered independently, $2,000 with my name as the lead detective and partner as support, and an additional $40,000 with my partner as lead and me as assisting detective, as well as the 3 apprehensions that they hadn't had 1 of in over 6 months. After I left, they hired on a new detective who didn't make it a month. They had one apprehension together which resulted in associates seeing the subject being escorted back in with blood all over him. On my second to last day, I went to my store manager to report everything so they are aware of the issues. I had tried going through HR multiple times and they told me to talk to my manager, who the problem was with. Our store manager was new, had only been there a month and didn't work for Macy's before, so he was good to talk to so he can know the issues taking place. As I was telling him detailed accounts of things that had happened, he kept apologizing sincerely, offering to switch my job so she wouldn't be my manager, but by this point, several managers had it out for me, reporting me any time I talked to a colleague, even when I was off the clock or asking them to simply customer service someone. After telling him some more things that happened, he went to my managers manager who was there that day, to get clarity on things. My resignation date came and I was done. My girlfriend still worked there, so I would take her to work, walk her inside, give her a kiss on the forehead and either do some shopping or visit my friends that worked at the sunglass hut(including the manager) that even though is inside Macy's, is not part of Macy's. After being in the store for 10-30 minutes any time I was in, even if I'm literally buying things, managers would tell me to leave. My girlfriend got HR reported because I would walk her in and kiss her forehead, HR never said anything and it was dropped because she was never on the clock when it happened. Most recently, I was at sunglass hut looking at glasses and writing down their info on cards so I had the info for the ones I liked, after being there for 30 minutes, a Macy's manager called and asked the sunglass hut associate to tell me to leave. She told them no.

I worked for Macy’s in the beauty department for about two years, and my experience was a mix of rewarding opportunities and ongoing workplace frustrations. The job itself was genuinely enjoyable. It was fast-paced, engaging, and fulfilling, especially for someone passionate about beauty and customer service. I loved building relationships with clients, helping customers find products that worked for them, learning about new launches and techniques, and having the opportunity to work closely with products every day. I also appreciated the gratis opportunities and the satisfaction that came with hitting sales goals.

There is room for growth within the company depending on available opportunities. I started as part-time and was promoted to full-time within my first year. I was rejected the first time I applied for the promotion, but received it the second time, so persistence and consistency can pay off.

One of the biggest strengths of the role was the experience itself. I gained valuable knowledge about the beauty industry, sales, marketing, client retention, and retail logistics. I also built strong relationships with vendors, clients, and coworkers that I genuinely value.

Unfortunately, the operational and management side of the company created many unnecessary challenges. Scheduling issues, lack of accommodations, stock shortages, missing signage, and poor logistical support were constant problems. Vendor communication and support were also inconsistent, making it difficult to successfully execute events without employees personally paying out of pocket for decorations or supplies. Even basic necessities like cotton balls, sponges, and applicators were frequently unavailable, which negatively affected both employees and customers.

Understaffing was another major issue. There often was not enough floor coverage to properly support clientele or prevent loss, leading to constant issues with theft, damaged testers, missing products, and replacements. At the same time, employees were still expected to meet unrealistic sales conversion, CRM, and credit card application metrics. During periods of economic hardship especially, these expectations felt disconnected from reality. The CRM system itself also felt outdated and frequently non-functional.

The workplace culture was another difficult aspect of the job. While management verbally promoted an “open door policy,” confidentiality rarely felt respected, and workplace drama was common knowledge among staff. Attempting to address concerns, seek constructive criticism, or discuss solutions often resulted in criticism without actionable guidance or support. There was a noticeable lack of productive communication when problems arose.

Management dynamics also often felt clique-based depending on department relationships, and favoritism or inconsistent treatment was noticeable at times. Networking within the workplace almost became a necessity to succeed, yet even highly involved and high-performing employees still faced ongoing issues. Many of the strongest employees eventually left for better work environments and compensation elsewhere.

There were also multiple situations where I was expected to train employees without any additional compensation or recognition. Over time, many employees and managers who genuinely tried to create positive change either left voluntarily or were let go. The turnover rate was extremely high unless employees were willing to tolerate poor conditions without advocating for themselves. Departments frequently lacked management support and were often blamed for issues outside of their control.

One of the best parts of working there was definitely my coworkers and loyal clients. The relationships I built made many stressful days worth it. However, the commission structure was disappointing overall. Standard commission was only around 3%, with meaningful commission increases only available through cross-selling into a small number of brands that offered 10%, which rarely made a substantial financial difference.

Despite the negatives, I truly valued the relationships I built with my coworkers, clients, and vendors. Those connections made many difficult days worthwhile. Overall, the experience helped me develop strong interpersonal, sales, organizational, and industry-related skills that will continue benefiting me in future opportunities. Macy’s beauty can be a great environment for someone who enjoys beauty, customer interaction, and fast-paced retail, but the overall experience depends heavily on management support, staffing, and workplace culture.

A typical day at work would involve a lot of insane, demanding customers with few staff and other days would run smoothly with jokes and connections made between the customers and staff.  What I've learned at Macy's was the basics and in and outs of customer service. I also learned how to work in a busy , fast-paced and demanding environment. When you first start at Macy's, they train you on the basics such as how to use the cash register but the first day that you start they "throw you into the lion pit". They don't train you on how to do certain things on the register and most managers just tell you what to do for the day such as clean this area and then they leave. Some managers are well prepared and offer the most of help while others are not so much. Overall store management needs work but Macy's morals and values such as "Be The Magic" can help you during your day in sales.  When receiving my promotion, I received a raise of a 50 cents with no hours. My position was supposed to be switched from part-time to full-time but I was told there were no full-time positions in my department. Two months later, two full-time positions opened in my department but instead of them changing my position to full-time due to my new promotion and seniority, they hired two new people. Macy's scheduling procedure is a fail. They fail to schedule multiple personal on busy days, when we need it the most. Instead, there are multiple people scheduled in the morning when it is usually slow and only 1-2 people closing the department. Those two people have to clean the floor, be available at checkout, monitor the fitting room and take care of customers on the floor. It is too much for just two people. Some co-workers are very helpful and we usual are a family but others seek to pick up hours in other departments to get more money and usually when they pick up a shift in another department they end up working against us then with us. Some of these co-workers are poorly trained and are lazy. They create more work instead of lessening it. When a manager puts a good team together, things will get done. The hardest part of the job was the recovery. Macy's Queens Center is the most diverse and hundreds of different races and cultures and nations walk through those doors. They are all bought up differently so perhaps in their country, throwing the clothes all over the place is a sign of respect. Or belittlement. Customers will ruin piles of clothes in front of your face as soon as you just folded them. They'll be rude, they'll snap at you and they'll throw things such as hangers if they get upset. But we've only had about 3 of those cases that I've witnessed. Children are constantly running around with hangers and spilling things and it takes housekeeping at least 30 minutes to come and clean it up. Female customers in the juniors department will steal to extents but there's not a lot of staff to even prevent it because we can't watch the fitting room all the time. Female customers will change their babies' diapers the fitting room, will sometimes even use the bathroom for themselves in the fitting room as well. The juniors department fitting room is cramped, small, has no ventilation so we have to have two big fans running and it makes it worse and one door in the fitting has recently been broken and probably won't be fixed until sometime next year. The elevator is extremely slow because it stops on every floor constantly and we only have one. And the escalator to the second floor was broken for about 10 months before the had it fixed. That's the biggest complaint we get from the customers. Some customers make the job a little easier, though. Most of them are kind and sweet but the majority of them, especially in the juniors department, are very needy so you must attend to them no matter what you were doing. You have to drop everything just to be their personal shopper and sometimes that isn't a bad thing because you can gain a client and they'll be willing to come back. Not all things at Macy's is bad. I like the people who I work with and I like the majority of the customers. The most enjoyable part is being able to help inspire the customers to put together outfits especially since most of our customers don't know how to do so they look to us to help them. I've had women who just had a baby and didn't know their style come up to me asking for help and I had fun doing that. I also had women telling me their most intimate problems such as going through divorces in details and I ended up sharing advice and experiences in return and with that I see every single one of them almost every week wanting me to put together something new for them. If you enjoy helping people find themselves and their style, this would be a good place to start off at. Every company has its ups and downs and sometimes this Macy's has more downs then Ups but I hope that one day It'll get better because the majority of the staff are leaving due to unfairness and unprofessional management within the store. In due time, it might just get better, or it might just all crumble down.

Although I enjoyed cashiering, I never want to work again at Macy's in Casper, WY. I was placed on the fulfillment team despite applying to be a sales associate. Most my work on the sales floor was spent reorganizing items that customers left in total disarray. The remainder of my time on the sales floor involved finding items that had been ordered.

The fulfillment room completely lacked proper work conditions. Too many people were crowded into the area, which could comfortably accommodate two or three people. Employees had to stand for long hours on concrete due to floor mats not being provided. Anyone attempting to inflate bubble wrap/packs, had to kneel or sit on the floor to use the air compressor located by the door. This usually resulted in that person being stepped on or tripped over. People also frequently tripped over items in the room due to serious overcrowding of racks, boxes, and shipping materials. In addition, the room lacked  counter space for making boxes needed to ship certain items. Employees either had to sit on or bend over the floor while trying to get wet paper tape from a dispenser located on a counter. Making and packing “pizza boxes” (for suits or sports coats) required repeatedly moving from sitting on the floor to standing up.

Two additional tables eventually were placed in the loading dock for several people to use for packaging. Employees frequently collided or interfered each other’s work flow due to reaching for packing supplies. Only one tape dispenser was available for both tables. The tables were too low for employees to comfortably pack items, resulting in everyone experiencing ongoing neck, back, and arm pain due to having to constantly bend over. There were no floor mats on the concrete floor and the area was extremely cold. In addition, lack of packing/shipping supplies for several days prevented fulfillment from shipping  items that had to be sent in a box. Despite everything being shipped before each item's deadline, fulfillment employees were repeatedly told to work faster to deal with the incredible number of orders. For example, the number of one day's orders that had to be located and shipped totaled 1,985 items. My work production improvement requests (e.g., raise the tables, provide floor mats, reduce the number of people per table or provide more tables, have adequate supplies, etc.) were ignored completely.

Locating items in-store affected packaging orders by the UPS pickup deadline. No new fulfillment employees were trained where merchandise was located unless the head of packing provided such information. We were left to find items by trial and error, which impacted the time available for packing. In addition, several sales associates completely failed or refused to find the items that had been ordered, entering such items as “not found” in the store's database. This usually resulted in the head of packing having to locate the items rather than the sales associates performing part of their job.

From my observations, management was chaotic and dysfunctional at best. Little or no communication occurred between supervisors, resulting in some employees not knowing what section they were working in that day. For example, one employee worked as a sales associate for a week before being told that she should have been working in fulfillment. I was told several times by a supervisor to work in a different section, only to be told by another that I was working in fulfillment. Men's wear was seldom staffed, resulting in any employee walking by being asked to find items and/or serve as cashier. Under- staffing in other sections often required me to stop trying to locate items that had been ordered and assist customers at the cash register despite my being assigned to fulfillment. In addition, the device for removing certain alarm tags from men's clothing was broken, requiring employees to leave the men's wear cash register to use a tag remover in women's ready to wear and then return to men's wear. When I brought this to management’s attention, I was told that the proper tag remover would not be provided. 

The actions of the head of packing constituted the main reason why the store successfully located items for shipment. Due to her refusal to leave work until every item had been found, the store met its shipping goals despite certain sales associates completely failing/refusing to find items that had been ordered. It is my understanding that management knew about the packing head’s dedication and hard work but failed to acknowledge/reward her efforts. Unfortunately, such apathy concerning job performance is pervasive at the store.

I voluntarily left Macy’s. My current employment provides much better pay with great benefits in a vastly superior work environment.

First off it was great working at Macy's for a short time,it gave me in sight to what customers do on a day to day and how we help people with purchases,also great on the resume! What I do not like is when people are offered the card,people tell them they have to do it to buy from this place,if you were sold that,I am terribly sorry. The commissions you get for selling brands are ok along with the cards, the benefit like the 20% is good sometimes even stacks with most coupons on items,if not the 20% will always be there for the associate. I have had customers come up to me and look around at stuff,then try to sell them the items,then they are like no thanks,I got one from ebay,or amazon,or that ebates place for less,and sometimes the website doesn't coordinate with prices in the store too and I have found that to be true at times. The good thing about this location they do mostly price match stuff off the internet. Make sure you get the best deal though if you have to research. Customers will be customers,I've worked for awhile,it comes with all jobs. The impatient,the I want it now,the bargain grabbers,the bribers,the call your manger,the I'm gonna act ugly kind,they are all out there,but just remember that your managers are your best friend. Now management can be tough,they have their favorites and are willing to call them before you. I always had a list of favorite managers to call here, some were a lil too bossy when you were in their area,very picky, I want my area this way,that's not clean but it is clean types...and when the seasonals came in,don't ring this,ring that deal,or you are support today,don't ring anything or help any customers,etc. I have even had managers follow me to lunch and ask me what am I doing...which is why I said weird management...Your lunch is 45 minutes which is good,but MAKE SURE YOU TAKE IT BEFORE 6 HOURS of work,you will be fined. Say if you work for 4 hours or something less than 6 you can choose to work right through but you will always get a 15,same with 6 hours or more. Always,and I mean ALWAYS make sure you are on insite EVERYDAY,EVERY HOUR, EVERY MINUTE of your life when you are seasonal,it determines whether you will work or not. The first week I was working at Macy's I had to call a manager to give me a schedule cause she poorly showed us how to work the engine,you need to check off all the boxes in the schedule picker that you want if there is an available shift,then you search... If you have open availability you will almost be forced into work,I've had a manager over hyped about the number of people out for a next day,trying to shove the schedules down our throat when we had something planned or you just needed a rest from being over worked and most times you are working already. I advise you make up a good list of "buddies" who you will contact if there is availability of shifts or they can contact you if they want someone to cover for them. Speaking of over worked,expect 6-9 hour shifts on the holidays,your feet will be killing you so wear insoles. Now the commissioned every day people you will pretty much see familiar faces there. I'm gonna be nice and say not all the people that are commissioned are nasty and rude,but a lot of them will take your customers without you telling them they can take it.Don't sit there and take it either,if your goal says a number,then you get it. I had one lady run around behind me every time I moved,hogging the register,cutting in with my customers and ring them out, but I nipped that in the bud quick. Don't be weak,they can smell it. I've even had people push me out their area to work all the way on the other side because they are commissioned there and they are rude and yelling at you. Now the non commissioned areas like juniors is the best place,everyone shares customers,shares stars,etc, they are a family even if you are seasonal,just be nice and courteous ask them if they need a break or something,be nice to everyone and you will be known. If you sell a customer a designer item,you need to ring it,whether you are commissioned or not,you will likely get a bonus,most seasonals are yet to learn this. When will you know if they will keep you? Once their budget comes they will see. Other benefits I have heard of but since I was part time seasonal I didnt get everything like the health,medical,etc,but there are resourses you can benefit on like Sprint, AT&T discounts (sorry MetroPCS no discounts for you) even floral and H&R Block discount,even Disney and attractions and much much more which any associate can take advantage of. My advice to management don't just focus on the people who make 5 and 6 stars a day,there is talent out there, and hospitality,but you guys are so caught up in the money. GOOD LUCK!

Macy's likes to think that taking away resources (employees, hours, positions, money, benefits) and then adding a heavier work load on to those who remain will some how let them compete with online retailers. This, as you can imagine, is not the case.

 There is a vast disconnect between corporate and day to day store operations to the point where the district team members feel comfortable with reminding receiving works that they are replaceable frequently. 

If you're a sales associate you can expect to be the only one on the sales floor for several departments with frequent calls to your manager to help you out with long lines because the company constantly cuts positions and people while still boasting about their hiring numbers. 

As a support associate you can expect to be doing floor moves constantly as decisions are made, executed and then changed and executed again over and over again and then be reprimanded for not accomplishing the rest of your workload on top of the added moves.

There is no communication between the different layers of management and departments. Managers will discuss problems with performance with everyone BUT the employee in question leading to a constant state of uncertainty. There is massive and vague overlap between positions leading to wasted time as tasks are shifted around between various departments. 

The amount of paper waste that stems from this is grotesque. Reams of printer paper and ink are wasted as their outdated systems of sales promotion are mismanaged and mishandled. Constantly changing floor layouts are printed and discarded within the same work day.

You can expect well meaning people to be disingenuous with you about everything because no one wants to say what they mean or what needs to be said. Every conversation with a supervisor will be wrapped and coded in the vague language of corporate niceties and empty reassurances.  Those who chose to cut through this culture obscuring language swiftly find they're better off at a different job.                                      

You can expect to be promoted into a position and not be trained for it or receive any real compensation for the newly added responsibilities. The fact that you were not properly trained will never be addressed even if you specifically ask to be retrained so as to better fill the position. Titles and positions will be cut or suddenly be made 'seasonal only' with pay increases and benefits ending just as swiftly and yet you will still be held responsible for all the responsibilities of the position or title you technically no longer have.

Problems that are out of your control such as improper data entry used for signage will not be addressed at the source and instead fall to you to find a work around or fix for. If one can not be found then it is you who will be disciplined. 

You will be asked to have open availability but your schedule will be subject to change right up to the day before it takes effect leading to frequent canceled appointments and no chance at having a life outside of work. You will hear an endless barrage of empty meaningless slogans parroted by district and regional supervisors even as they remind you how replaceable you are to the company. Scheduled four hour days will turn into six to eight hour days as mismanagement of time and an utter lack of planning wreck havoc on day to day operations. 

You will be asked to stay later or come in earlier regardless of how much you've already worked that week or how few days off you have. Conversely, you will find your hours cut drastically midweek or mid shift as management scrambles to fix over scheduling issues because corporate has slashed their budget of available hours to ribbons. Everyone should expect some bust and boom within retail due to it's seasonal shifting. However, not knowing until five minutes before you are either sent home or asked to stay is plainly irresponsible. 

You will non-verbally be asked or expected to work through 'optional break' times even on seven hour shifts and lunch breaks are unpaid so even if you are on location for nine hours or more you will still be required to clock out for an hour of that time. 

Even though most employees are pleasant and understanding or even feeling as angered and frustrated as you might be about any of the above given reason it will not matter. The company will continue to grind you and all your co workers into the ground with an ever shift nightmare of poor decisions, mismanagement, unrealistic expectations and overwhelming apathy to anything that is not increasing their bottomline.

Just save yourself the trouble and stress by working somewhere else or only as a seasonal associate. Anything else is more than this company deserves.

A typical day of work was always different. As a seasonal sales associate, I had to be prepared to take on any responsibility given to me by my direct manager. During my training session, I realized as a Cosmetics/ Fragrances Sales Associate, I had to learn everything from Recovery, to P.O.S, to marketing fragrances and so forth. I learned how sale products to people of all races and culture using neat and clean appearance, as well as having a very sweet and positive attitude, I learned how to do loads of work in one day without  getting stressed or overwhelmed, I learned how to use clean folding techniques for department floor displays, I learned how to be polite to people who are impatient, rude, and mean, and I learned that there is no need for making friends at work. The management was fair there. One  african american woman in particular who works in Human Resources department did not have a good attitude. She treated everyone so badly, her reputation is clear to all of the seasonal and regular employees. My direct manager was also the same. She too had very poor communication and people skills. For an example, i came to work with my head wrap. I was in fear that no one would hire me because of my head wrap, so I played along with everyone else until I knew I had the job. She saw me with my headwrap three days prior to her acknowledging it as an issue. When she finally said something to me, it was not like she pulled me to the side in a discreet manner; she called me out in front of customers and other employees on the sales floor. Not only that, the way she said it was a command. "YOU CAN'T WEAR HEADWRAPS, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU".  From that incident, I reported her to Human Resources, but it seemed as if they also hadn't kept the information to themselves. Rumors spread about the dumbest things. One co-worker told me that another co-worker was talking to my manager about My headwrap. I realized that in the report I came off very harsh about the separation of races. I felt somewhat discriminated against because my manager was of spanish descent and many of the workers she favored were too, so I generalized all spanish people for being very rude when they have some authority.
 (I am not racist, most of my friends are Puerto-Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Panamanian and so forth, I have Puerto-Rican family members as well.)
The managers there all had befriended the sales associates, and rumors and gossip was all over the place. Once people found out(somehow), it seemed as though the regular sales associates would quote everything I reported word for word, and looked for me to agree, just to confirm the rumors they heard. 
The environment was sloppy. Customers cannot find what they are looking for because the co-workers were very lazy. During recovery, the employees would just place anything anywhere, just to finish doing their job faster. They all bragged about the use of marijuana before and after work, they all loudly cursed in front of customers while working, and the organization skills were very poor. 
Most of the managers are VERY Kind in-spite of the small incidents. The head of cosmetic sales, I liked her a lot. The fragrances lady I worked with in Jadore by Dior was a good hearted woman as well, and she too was Puerto Rican but had little tolerance for craziness. All of the managers from other departments liked me. They didn't question my head-wrap, they just acknowledged my hard work and rewarded it, some even complimented my style and marked me "Inspiring." 
The hardest part of the job was knowing that there were people who were against me when I stated my feelings openly, cleaning up after employees who didn't do their job correctly at the register, cleaning up for managers who had poor attitudes, and being kind within it all to customers. When I was there for only 3 months seasonal, I received 4 positive customer reviews for my positive attitude and helpfulness. I loved customers, because they would always give me the same energy I gave to them. Many of them were from different countries and made me feel much more respected. They would let me interact with their children, have positive conversations about life while I'd ring them up, and one customer asked "How do you stay so chipper in a place like this?" I laughed and said "Things are only hard when you make them harder for yourself."

I originally worked at the Macy’s in Flushing, Queens and was hired as a Supervisor. I had a great experience working here with upper management. They would walk the floors with you, see where you needed help, pitch in where needed, and gather other managers/supervisors to help. There was so much teamwork here. A few cons but mostly positive and I felt supported and appreciated. Unfortunately, in order to move up to manager (which I did within a year) I would have to move stores. This is where it went downhill. I had to move to the Co-Op City Bronx location. This was literally walking distance from my home which would seem more convenient, but upon coming here, I could see that it was “every manager for themself”. A little bit of throwing each other under the bus, a lot of things you were just “expected” to know, despite the fact that supervisor and manager have very similar responsibilities but as a manager, when things fall apart, it falls completely on you and there are some top level things I didn’t have to deal with before. The culture was different here. The teamwork was subpar. The clientele was also completely different here, which is why I didn’t want to come here. My selling floor was constantly a mess no matter how much we cleaned because customers would literally destroy tables, let their kids run all over the place. We had work group chats and would constantly have to call in people to replace call outs and I was in communication with my team even when I was off ( so I never felt like I was really off). Some of my associates had been there for years with negative attitudes (labeled as the problem people) because previous management had not done their due diligence to have them written up or terminated so now I had to be the bad guy. In 2019 before Covid had really hit, we had huge budget cuts and they got rid of members in the store who did our merchandising and price markdowns and signage. It doesn’t sound like much until you realize that Macy’s has thousands of units that weekly get marked down, and weekly sales where signs had to be changed before the store opened. Those responsibilities fell to the floor staff and me as the manager. Managing the kids, intimates, plus size, home/luggage and mattress section by myself was a lot. Then once covid hit and we returned, it was even worse. We had lines out the door and maybe 2-3 people for an entire floor. I was overworking myself to stress, exhaustion, and sickness. I finally got my priorities straight and decided it wasn’t worth the pay (left at $58K a year in NYC). Every Macy’s is slightly different because of upper management, but overall they do promote teamwork, promoting talent from within, and manager trainings and education. Macy’s as a company tries to make everyone feel appreciated with: morning meetings with the entire store where management and associates can thank each other, if someone retired from the company flowers and cake were mandatory, cake for management birthdays were mandatory, managers could decide to celebrate associates birthdays as well and have a small quick party in one of the conference rooms, and certificates were given out for STAR leaders and performers. Despite having a fairly negative and overly stressful experience at my 2nd location, I learned a LOT about running a store, managing a team (as people and not just numbers) and overall leadership. Macy’s put a lot of emphasis on being a self-starter and acting as though this was your store. I wouldn’t give up the experience but looking back, I know I did the best I could. The last budget cut eliminated A LOT of roles above manager, so towards the end, there was hardly any room to grow. After sales floor manager (me), assistant store manager(which also got eliminated in most stores), and store manager- district roles were eliminated and regional roles were limited. I started June 2017 and left June 2020. In my 3 years, a lot had changed. I would recommend Macy’s if you don’t mind having a million roles stuffed into one job, or if you just want a stable job for a while. Not a long term option for me.

One of the biggest issues with Macy's - the pay doesn't match the work. A typical day (if you start at 9) , was this- 

 1- open the register

2- go find a list of orders customers have placed online, before the store opens (Majority of the items are located in a massive, disorganized, dark room where I somehow managed to not be injured) 

3- The store is opening and you're the only one in your entire department, so you have to pause your search and open the fitting room now.

4- People are here and checking out, so now you're tending to the cash register and also monitering the fitting room , (but you still have these orders you haven't found, so close those off when you can)

5- If no customer is immediately in front of you for 2 minutes, you can't stand there and wait for the next, so you go back and check (and sign) the fitting room again

6- You pull out a heap of clothes from the fitting room to be rehung, (but you're still watching the register). While you're tending to the mess, a customer appears -so you drop everything.

7- You ring up customers back to back for the next hour before your supervisor comes back and asks if you've checked the fitting room recently. (You haven't because it's physically impossible to do so while simultaneously operating the register) . She reminds you to check on it and that you need to get people to open credit cards.

8- A customer asks for help on the floor, (even though you've got a line of people waiting to check out), you have to apologize to the line and go get that person whatever their heart desires (doesn't matter if the computer says it's not in the store) 

9- Okay, so while you're helping this person (or trying to anyway), your supervisor pops up, (asks you if you got any credit cards opened, of course) , and tells you that you have a line waiting (but you still have someone in front of you), so she takes over your customer and sends you back to the register. 

10- While you're on the register again, the phone rings. It's another order to find in store, (but you still have a customer so you physically cannot go retrieve the item). 


After another consecutive hour of ringing, your supervisor reappears behind you and demands you go find that in store order from the past hour. You can't find the order because the stock room is dark and completely disorganized, so you return to your department and inform said supervisor. She attempts to locate it, can't, and admonishes you for taking so long to search. 





Half-way into your shift, someone comes to help in your department.

Now that you finally have a minute to do so, you go clean the giant mess that's accumulated over the morning. While you're picking up piles of clothes from the floor, you hear someone talking  "she doesn't wanna clean the fitting room, but it's her job". (Can't be you she's gossiping about because you've cleaned it, right?)

While cleaning the floor, a line forms (and your co-worker is in the fitting room talking about someone still), so you go back to the register. After you ring up the line, your supervisor reappears and says to follow her. 

She leads you to a tiny, dark closet and shuts the door. She proceeds to admonish you for not finding the order this morning (and not getting enough people to open credit cards) , proceeds to tell you that the fitting room is everyone's job, your coworker has "senority" and you need to respect that we do things "her way". (by gossiping, or by doing whatever Senority says?) You can't win. Your lovely leader lists anything she feels you've done inadequately and (upon not recieving a desired reaction, yet ) follows you back to your department. 

In the hour before you leave, Senority and Supervisor now gossip about you openly... while you wonder if $13 an hour is really worth it.

Finally, after your shift ends, Supervisor pulls you aside one final time- repeats her series of complaints, acknowledges your (now-visible) discomfort, smiles and blatantly suggests you find another job. 



I've never seen such unprofessional and (frankly, immature) adults in an employment setting, but perhaps mental delays are inevitable when you make a career out of Macy's.  

Wouldn't recommend it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 455 salaries reported	$17.52 per hour
Seasonal retail sales associate 466 salaries reported	$17.34 per hour
Sales associate 88 salaries reported	$17.35 per hour
Cosmetics sales associate 284 salaries reported	$18.96 per hour
Asset protection specialist 122 salaries reported	$21.02 per hour

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