order picker

sales assistant

forklift operator

outside sales representative

account executive

S&S Activewear

I've been here for almost half of my seasonal hire and will just be stating observations i've viewed from my experience of management:

 The puller position basically doesn't exist anymore and with the automated system they implemented there is no specific process set in place. It's essentially a free for all with the warehouse supervisors left without direction and frustrated through miscommunication and inability to delegate work correctly. 
 Leads are constantly stressed and slightly scrambled due to them currently being over hired and trying to find spots for employees before sending them home to ensure they can reach hours. 
Employees that don't care do whatever they please or are insanely lazy with their work in hopes of being put elsewhere to the department they'd rather be working in with management not holding them accountable for the repeated behaviors. (ex: 45 min breaks, leaving whenever they please, purposely working slowly, talking in aisles and blocking paths, grouping together and talking about other employees, etc.)
No puller position has new hires being forced into packing creating confusion and retaliation for trainers who are basically floater employees sent to help out in departments rather than train and thus leading to higher turnover. Full time employees and seasonal that are close to 90 days are forced home due to the lack of work from over hiring of seasonal.
On top of that seasonal employees are dangled with the promise of being extended instead of permantly hired after 90 days stripping them of full-time benefits with hire on after 90 days aka "We'll use you past 90 days then release you despite the work you'll do for us." (however there is a chance of being hired on after the extension but upper management has claimed this is slim)
The work itself is mind numbly easy but physically intensive at times. Again an issue with work delegation and rotating of employees to not keep them in the same place routinely. Especially with more physically demanding work depending on ones physical structure can lead to injury easier from picking up or twisting 20-40lb boxes consistently. 
Overpriced food and drinks in the break room.

Overall the work itself isn't bad. I see everyone here talking about the leads and supervisors having favoritism which i'll have to disagree. Leads rely on long standing full time employees or reliable seasonal hires that can pick up the work for the other that aren't held accountable in previous said behaviors above which can easily be taken care of with write ups and send homes. Warehouse supervisor is pretty flexible and reasonable as long as you don't try to argue or take to him a strong "i'm always right and your wrong" attitude. Employees that have been here a while seem alright with the work but share the same frustration as leads and upper management with the current delegation and lack of process situation that is ongoing. 


I've worked in several fields and have worn many different hats over the course of my working life and I believe that I've found what I like to call my "forever" job! From a manager jumping in on a project at a moment's notice, waaayy past the time they should've already been off the clock to being made to feel like a vital member of the team right from your first day on the job, to encouraging their employees to apply for any open positions which interest them even if its a move from the warehouse to the corporate office or vice versa!. Or how about a company that wants all their departments working together, so they provide tons of opportunities for cross-training to provide the best possible customer-based service available. They do this without micromanaging, as they put full trust in the company training system to produce well-rounded, knowledgeable employees. If you haven't performed a task in awhile, there's no reason to worry as there's a printed guideline to walk you through step by step-FOR EVERY TASK, FOR EVERY POSITION in the company! They are also growing and learning everyday and aren't ashamed to say they need improvements in certain areas, so the guidelines and tasks may seem like they're always changing but it's not because its chaotic, its because they realize something will work better and aren't afraid to make the changes. There are monthly team-building incentives, quarterly drawings for cash and paid days off, monthly luncheons and the HR department puts out weekly motivational quotes and health and wellness tips and tricks! Who does this stuff? As far as Covid19 goes, every step of this horrible pandemic has been a learning experience for all and S&S is not an exception. Since they've opened back up after the initial lockdown, they had social distancing, mandatory mask wearing, extra sanitation stations, and Plexiglas between cubicles in place, stopped inter-company travel, have made some positions remote to help with office crowding, etc. So, personally, I believe they've done a great job. I think people need to remember that first and foremost, we need to advocate for ourselves to ensure we personally are taking the steps to keep ourselves safe during this challenging time by making sure we're all adhering to whatever safety measures have been adopted. Finally, I feel like I'm building relationships every day, with customers, my management team and especially with my co-workers who are the most helpful, supportive, kind people I've ever worked with. It's a great place to work! How many people get to say they love their job? I do!!

version:

I had an unfortunate experience working at S&S due to several ongoing issues that made the work environment stressful and unsustainable. Management was extremely poor, lacking effective leadership and clear communication. Instead of fostering a supportive workplace, there was constant surveillance monitoring, which made employees feel like they were being watched at all times rather than trusted to do their jobs. This created an uncomfortable and tense atmosphere.

The workload was overwhelming, with expectations far exceeding what was reasonable for the number of employees available. Despite the excessive workload, the pay remained regular and did not reflect the effort and stress required to keep up with daily demands. Additionally, the pressure from management was relentless, with constant threats of termination being used as a means of control rather than motivation. This fear-based management style only added to the discomfort of working there.

One of the biggest issues was the high turnover rate. The company seemed to fire more employees than they could hire, resulting in chronic understaffing. This, in turn, made it even harder for the remaining employees to manage their responsibilities, leading to burnout and frustration. Instead of addressing these problems by improving conditions and treating employees with respect, the cycle of hiring and firing continued, making it clear that long-term employee retention was not a priority.

Overall, working at S&S was an exhausting and discouraging experience. The lack of proper management, the constant stress, and the unrealistic expectations made it difficult to feel any sense of job security or job satisfaction. I would not recommend this workplace to anyone looking for a stable and supportive job environment.

The job is easy if you stay at the bottom of the chain. During peak season overtime is mandatory but during off season, VTO is available. The point system is just awful. If you get a point it doesn't drop till the same day the next year and you only get 7 points for full time and 4 points for part time. During the training period, which is the first 3 months, you only get 4 points. They don't take any notes excusing you from work (doctors notes, police cases, etc.;) so no matter what you get basically punished for being sick or being late no matter the reason. Couple people have been sent to the hospital from the warehouse due to passing out either from heat exhaustion or other health issues that had worsened from working during the summer and in the hot building. The building itself has no AC or heating. There are fans in the front of the building but when you are in the isles picking you are stuck in horrible heat during the hot months. Management plays favorites more often than not. If you are good at your job in any way they will overwork you. If you are cross-trained for other departments, you will most likely get thrown back and forth and its near impossible to keep your numbers where they want you to. You can "level up" as a picker to make more money but in the long run its truly not worth it cause once we hit slow months you won't hit the numbers you need to, so you end up either working even harder or you get in trouble. They stopped giving out raises to everyone, so you have to either climb the ladder or just be stuck for good. All this company cares about is working you into the ground and the moment you get sick or tired they kick you to the curb and move to the next. The turnover rate is so bad its hilarious. During orientation days there would be 10-20 people to show up. Not even half of those would make it through the first month. 

Company as a whole is ok to work with. I am reviewing specifically for the Lockport IL location. Lack of communication between managers and employees. Half the time you would never see your supervisor. They wont talk to you unless you do something bad. If you are a pretty girl beware, they will bother you till the ends of the earth not letting you work, talking to you in the aisles, etc. Supervisors are lazy, telling other employees to do their job even when they aren't dong anything. One supervisor literally cant even go look for an employee on his team, has someone else do it for him. Their pep talk is a usual "do your best" bs, no motivation at all. I usually don't talk to management but i have observed a lot of things. You can pass by an aisle and see a manager talking to a lady, only to pass by 30 minutes later, and they are STILL there. I thought this was a productive warehouse? Yet management promotes this, and other people see this. They have rules they never enforce, yet they would nitpick on people hey don't like. If management doesn't like you, they will do anything to get rid of you. Write you up for the littlest thing. A lot of employees just standing around and talking and management passes and doesn't do anything. Yet all the hard working employees have to pick up the slack. Safety is a joke. You are supposed to make full stops at the ends of the aisles and employees don't, and supervisors see that and do nothing. I honestly don't know what half of these supervisors do besides drive around and talk. Apply at your own risk.

I worked for S&S for about a year. Within that year I was forced to work mandatory overtime everyday and also forced come in for a 6th day every week. We were threatened over and over that we wouldn't have a job if we didn't come in for our mandatory overtime. They had a point system that was very unfair considering people with children just could not stay 15 hours and would leave at 12 hours and they still gave a point against them and I even saw many people get fired because of this. Beyond that they have a grading system to track your accuracy and speed. I completely understand them wanting accuracy and speed but the amount of pressure put on you was overwhelming. I felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water. You're not allowed to go home until the last order has been picked and every single day we went over. It wasn't even the fact that we went over our scheduled time to get off it was that it would be hours past our scheduled ending time. 15 hour days became the norm. I left at the beginning of Covid-19 outbreak last year. The company itself cares about its numbers and money more then it's employees. At the end of the day I don't think S&S is the worst employer out there but they will continue to lose people consistently and frequently if they can not come to the understanding that people are not robots and they need rest and also it wouldn't hurt to invest in some heating and cooling for the seasons. In this day and age there is no reason for any company not to provide and a heated/cooled working environment for their employees.

-A day at work-
You have a meeting in the morning that’s 15 mins long and you start your work progress.
-what you believe you learned-
Around winter time you will get sent home. No really. Right when you walk in, you will only work for 3 or 4 hours and they ask you to leave. If you have a home. Car note. Anything you have to make important payments on, please For the love of God don’t come here as it will mess your life style up and you may lose things in your personal life just because you can’t make ends meet. Overtime is only 4 hours on sundays. No point. If you want to work at S&S it will require you to have a second Job. This job won’t take care of you like most warehouse jobs would.
-Management-  
It’s like Highschool honestly. People will talk behind your back. Really immature.  If you’re looking for a place of professional and growth opportunities, don’t come here. 
-Workplace culture- 
Co workers are honest as everyone see what S&S truly is about. 
-Hardest part of the job-
When you’re first hired, you're only allowed 4 points. Yes you heard that right. 4 points. So it’s pretty much do or die. This is a production warehouse. No hours when it comes towards the end of the year. So don’t rely on S&S to make ends meet. This job will make your place get evicted or even lose your car because you can’t make ends meet. If you live with your parents then this will be a job for you without responsibilities. 
-Most enjoyable part of the job- 
Nothing honestly. You will see for yourself.

  Expect rough going from the start at the Reno Location. The in house training is somewhat lacking in useful advice for inexperienced workers, putting them behind their Quota goals frequently. As a side effect of this people often rush and cause accidents making this the most unsafe location I have ever worked at. 

 People who have managed to get past the initial rough phase and become a full member of the team face more tribulations going forward. PTO requests may go unanswered until after the fact, while hours can just disappear without a trace. Department transfers may go unfulfilled for months on end and schedule changes as well- which will cause you to accumulate attendance points well beyond the point of termination.

 Raises and incentive programs are the biggest downfalls to this place. Entering in to the incentive program will take months to take affect and often time will not reflect your work fairly. Additionally people promoted are regularly neglected their deserved raises for many months while they are in the position and doing the harder work. Thats IF you ever get promoted cause this company does usually   externally hire instead of promoting outstanding people in the company.
 
This abundance of problems causes a HUGE turnover rate, keeping the location in last within the company's DC rankings and is a clear indication of leadership quality (or lack thereof ).

I love my job working at S&S. My complaints are the attendance policy absolutely sucks we have lost a lot of excellent employees because of it. The second complaint I have is thier production expectations it don't matter if you have good lines if you get 1 error it screws up your entire lph. They fire people all the time for production and attendance. The new Assistant General Manager is absolutely amazing and he is doing alot of positive changes for our Distribution Center. I love the personnel in HR they are truly wonderful and our General Manager is a really nice guy to also work for. I don't listen to the gossip in the warehouse because they just don't fire people for no reason if you do something wrong then you should be held accountable for it but if your friendly and honest then you won't have any problems with the head personnel. I find it funny when people say that they play favoritism because that is not true remember we are only human and if everyone works good together then you want to go to work everyday period. They work with you when you need time off, they understand that things happen in life and they will hardly tell you no. They have company appreciation lunches throughout the year. They give you free clothes from our will call center so the incentives are there. It is a high paced job but you get to drive carts to pull orders. The only downfall is the company is bringing in robots so I'm sure alot of jobs are going to be on the line. Benefits are amazing another great incentive.

This warehouse has by far been one of the most awful places I have ever worked at. The job is easy, but as time goes on the longer you stay they'll keep demanding more and more labor overtime.  You will start to feel overwhelmed, like you cannot humanely ethically keep up with their fast paced "work ethic". Management was bare minimum, and supervisors (most) were standing, and staring at people literally doing absolutely nothing. I've gotten sick often at this place, and felt like because we had so much work to get done I never had time to use the bathroom. It was definitely a consensus with other co workers of mine that this company itself is very disorganized in how to properly provide, manage, and maintain orders throughout the warehouse. Therefore high turnover, and more demand/struggle for the rest of the workers that stay for their needs of a paycheck. Earning any kind of paid sick day time, or paid vacation time took a godawful amount of hours to just get 3 hours of paid time off. The list can literally keep going. 

Don't even bother looking at this place even if you're in need of a job right now. You'll slave your time away feeling absolutely burned out emotionally and physically. I have had better experiences with other places, and suggest you don't go here. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Order picker 7 salaries reported	$21.65 per hour
Sales assistant 10 salaries reported	$33.05 per hour
Forklift operator 10 salaries reported	$31.00 per hour
Outside sales representative 1 salary reported	$92,500 per year
Account executive 4 salaries reported	$56,738 per year

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