production operator

route driver

operator

account executive

folder

Vestis

There are so many structural problems at this company that it is nearly impossible to list them all. I worked for the company while it was still Aramark Uniform Services. Any time a company has to go through a complete re-brand it is usually indicative of systemic problems and negative attitudes towards the brand. From my understanding absolutely nothing has changed about the overall corporate strategy, and many things have gotten even worse since the re-brand. I mention the overall corporate strategy, because there was never a clear direction outside of try to copy what the competitors did but just do it a little bit differently. The corporate focus on attracting large national accounts was a detriment to the organization as a whole and to the ability of associates to hit their metrics. Imagine a job where you’re under pressure to hit sales targets every single day. You’re expected to sell new products and services into your customer base. These are good things and generally attainable things. Despite the challenges we were good at getting the job done. However, on some routes a majority of your customers are national accounts. There’s very little opportunity to sell new products and services into national accounts as they are highly regulated by corporate. They typically never receive price increases either. Now, you’re stuck trying to sell into and extract regular price increases from 40% of your customers, most of whom are mom and pop places operating on shoestring budgets. You’re expected to extract blood from a turnip on a regular basis and you’re handed a pile of coal and demanded to turn it into diamonds. We were regularly excoriated for failing to match the growth rates of our competitors, but the corporate strategy made it nearly impossible to achieve. Corporate VP’s operated on a management by spreadsheet strategy whereby metrics and targets were pulled out of thin air with no respect to the reality on the ground, and they were unwilling to take any feedback as to ways they could pivot in terms of strategy or do the basics to give the associates what they needed to be successful.
The bonus structure for GM’s incentivized them to cut corners at every turn and not make the necessary investments into the plants (or into purchasing new products to properly service the customers). Our equipment was outdated and in some cases literally held together by duct tape. The facility was undersized, outdated, dirty, and in generally poor condition. Regular maintenance was not performed in the plant. Trucks were generally in poor condition. The safety culture was nearly non-existent. The dock area was incredibly cramped and there wasn’t enough parking for trucks. Truck accidents on the dock were a regular occurrence (probably once a month someone would have a mirror ripped off).
I could go on and on about the issues at this company, but I feel like I’ve kicked them enough right now. I wouldn’t wish working here on my worst enemy. On the plus side, the RSR’s are a great group of guys. They’re incredibly hard working, talented, and professional. The only reason this company has had the success that it has is because of them, and it has come despite the company rather than because of the company. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. I’ve spent the last 2.5 years in a very similar role in a very similar industry and it’s night and day to what I experienced at Vestis.

A typical work day starts at 4am and last 10 to 13 hours per day.  Structured and standardized training is non-existent.  You will be trained by another driver, with no standardized training or guidelines.  Training will be their way, right or wrong.  Drivers are under DOT regulations, but there is no DOT training. 

There are consistent problems and/or issues at Aramark that management never addresses.  We are always told that "changes are coming; we're working on it", with no change ever happening, therefore the problems remains.  

Drivers are union and most of them have the feeling that they are untouchable and get away with anything.  This is one of the aforementioned problems that management does not address.  If done correctly, management can enforce rules and policy, even with drivers being represented by a union.  Management accepts bad behavior from drivers because drivers are hard to hire and retain, so management allows the bad behavior to continue, so long as they have drivers.  Management is all about the bottom line...making a profit, even if it includes retaining bad/problem drivers.  One driver was threatened with bodily harm and physical violence by a customer.  Instead of management standing behind their driver,  and immediately terminating service with said customer, service continued to that customer.  Again, management only cares making a profit, not their employees.

There is no team work at Aramark.  Drivers only care about themselves, even if it impedes, delays or causes additional work of another driver.  There has been damage done to driver's personal and Aramark property by other drivers, and again there is no management intervention or consequences to the bad behavior.

Routes are really crammed with customer stops, there is not enough time to provide quality customer service to stops/customers that need it.  Most routes are stop to stop and most drivers eat their lunch and continue on with the route before their 30 minutes for lunch is over, or they will not finish their route for the day.  Often times, routes are not completed and need to be finished the next day by relief drivers.

A typical day at work:  About 20% in the office making phone calls and taking care of your orders, 80% on the road following up on appointments and finding new accounts.

What you learned:  I'm still learning but you definitely need to have thick skin, be persistent and disciplined.  I enjoy finding all these businesses in my area that I had no idea existed, the product is fairly easy to sell since it's something that they need and use on a daily basis. 

Management:  You need to be independent, make your own schedule and be consistent.  As long as you are making your goals, they don't care if you work 4 hours or 14, this takes discipline since you have to make your own decisions about your time and track your own progress, if you do need help, your manager is a phone call away, there's plenty of support if needed.

Workplace culture.  It is competitive but at the end of the day we do help and support each other.  There is plenty of room for growth, our manager doesn't "hoard" people if they are doing good, he is more than happy to help you get there even if that means losing a great team member. (Our top producer just got promoted).

The hardest part of the job:  Cold calling over the phone, I've never been a fan and I never will be, it does get easier once you start to get referrals from existing clients but the beginning is bumpy, at least for me.   That's less than 20% of my time at work so I don't mind it too much.

The most enjoyable part of the job :  I do enjoy being out there on the road instead of locked in an office, I like the flexibility of working around your errands if needed.
There is a base salary plus commission, our manager was an AE before so he knows realistic ways to get your numbers.  You definitely get what you put into.
I like to start my day early and finish early so I get to do that on my personal schedule. No weekends, don't have to deal with google reviews, surveys, etc ...
I personally like to go inside businesses and see what they do,  from automotive custom shops to LED lights factories, food processors etc.  If you like to tour businesses and see how stuff is done, this job gets you in.

Peers:  Gas card (Specially now) , Laptop, Company cellphone. 

Working as a customer service representative here you will be doing work for other departments such as human resources when someone calls in about applying or just checking application statuses. You also help generate sales leads for the account exec who gets paid commission,but the CSR who generated the sale will get nothing. You'll just be laying money right in the Account exec's lap with no incentive to you. Then you have to help with account receivable calls which this company has a whole dept dedicated for that but you have to take the call. So, that 3 jobs right there that you would do on top of your actual job. You only up for a raise once a year and that is all dependent on other factors such as Quality assurance inspectors all have a different a POV when grading the calls. One QA will give you a 75% when another QA will give you a 100% on the same type of call and all this is factored in you raise. So, you raise isn't about the work you put in but how the QA feels that day. The starting pay is $16.00 and sick time after 90 days. I started working here thru a temp agency and work as a temp for 4 months and 2 days before getting hired on full-time. Mind to tell you this company does their raises in October each year so I was there in time for the raise but didn't get one because they hired me on October 18. So, that will mean I would've had to wait until Oct 2024 for a raise that wouldn't go into effect until 2025 and we just got into year 2024. On top of all that I didn't get any holiday pay for the holidays that just past after being with the company all together 6 almost 7 months. Now with the day to day work of a CSR you will take about 70-80 calls a day and you will hear complaint after compliant due to the higher ups not doing what they promised the customer and then it'll fall back on the CSR. You going to take all the heat with no good pay. Lastly, in your 8.5 hours of work they will give you 40 min worth of breaks in your first 3 hours of work leaving the remaining 5.5 hours of work with just one 10 min break. The manager was cool at first until I seen that everyone lies just to get by at this job. Beware!!!!

... but it's pretty close to being the worst. In hindsight, I should have refused the job right after the job interview. They didn't ask any questions about me, nothing about my work style, work history, etc. I assume that is a basic question any employer worth their salt would do. You need to make sure your prospective employee is a good fit for your job.  Your lowest standard can't be "we need someone with a pulse." You need someone who you know for sure has the right work ethic and skills for your position.

In theory, the job sounds pretty straightforward. Uniforms are sorted on conveyors, but you also work to make sure they are properly sorted and load the uniforms into carts for them to be shipped to the client. On paper, this sounds fine. However, this is must have been the most disorganized warehouse position I've ever seen. There were so many details about sorting that are not very cut-and-dry. You would need a list to learn how to do things, and the list I was given was ineffective.

I never felt welcomed at the job. While people were willing to train me initially, they got tired of me as time went on. Which is hypocritical because they knew how hard the job was, how learning everything was overwhelming. But I was still treated like a burden. One worker, who had no leadership position to speak of, was extra bossy. They micromanaged everything I did, and my self-esteem took a nosedive after being subjected to their constant nagging.

Corporate did their damnedest to cut our pay and hours. Which is counterintuitive in so many ways, I don't know where to begin. I applied for full-time work so I didn't appreciate having my hours cut last minute. I need that money to pay the bills.

I had to leave to save my mental health. I don't want to work for a company whose appreciation of their employers is conditional.

I worked at Aramark, now Vestis for almost two years. In that time I saw 8 sales reps come and go, along with two managers. HIGH TURNOVER, the culture is churn and burn, meaning they will place activity metrics that are impossible to sustain without reaching burnout and then eventually just replacing the rep to do it again to another person. They increased activities to cold call business in person 100% during the covid-19 pandemic, during the shut down when only essential employees (nurses, doctors, law enforcement etc) were directed to leave their homes.. This company only cares about numbers, they do not take care of their customers. It is not just on market center, but all of the locations. The culture comes from management, they only care about quotas and pleasing wall street. Service managers do not like sales and try to block more sales due to it not being their "ideal" customer, meaning operations dictates whether or not they want the customer. Commissions take 13 weeks to be paid after closing which makes it hard to maximize your earning potential due to this long pay cycle. In office days you will be required to cold call businesses over the phone for 8 hours which often leads to voicemails and hangups. Most reps only get 1 to 2 real appointments from phone blocks per week, the metric is at least 10 appointments so reps just fake this number in the system. This is a good job fresh out of college to gain experience, beyond that it is just a temporary job until you can land a better sales opportunity. 

Expect to be trained on an easier route, someone quits (typical) after they have been there for 2 weeks and then you take their route that has you working minimum 55 hours a week.
They can't keep drivers because they don't understand people don't want to be worked like dogs every day and have no life outside of work. You could work a 15 hour day and that's completely legal.
Manager won't help you, don't care that you are struggling and probably count the days until you quit. They could easily give people a driver helper to make it to where their stops aren't as long or someone that takes work off other drivers to make their routes less heavy, but they can't keep enough people to do that OR they just don't care. You are supposed to load and unload your truck when you come back but 90% of the time your stuff isn't ready so you have to do it in the morning which adds even more time to your day and messes up your whole week.
You get 3 days of sick time after 90 days for the whole year, in a job like this that's laughable. But, you don't want to take off. Your day won't get covered, your work will be waiting for you the next day you come in so you will have to somehow do that on top of the rest of your work. Check engines are on in every truck and according to Aramark "safety guidelines" the truck shouldn't even be driven but they don't actually care. Drivers will break down for hours waiting on a tow truck and then they still have to finish the day.

I could keep going, but if you are reading this and considering a job with Aramark... save yourself the stress and don't do it to yourself. Your physical/mental health and your family will thank you.

This job isn’t for everyone, you get pushed through an intense training program and are expected to know everything fairly quickly. Some of the ways they do business is unethical “tricking” their customers into signing long term contracts which  it’s hard for them to get out of. The turnover rate with this company is very high, saw a lot of turn and when you work for this company you will see exactly why. Management and the executive team is concerned about 1 thing and that’s hitting the numbers! They put on a fake face and pretend like the care about you but come on this is real life you work in the corporate world you understand real quick that it’s usually only about the numbers! There is zero job security here. You can move up and get promoted quickly if your performing well. But the next position is just added stress and pressure to continue. Making a million cold calls is exhausting with most people who do NOT want to do business with Aramark due to bad business practice on Aramark’s part. The industrial laundry business is a dying industry! 

What is the best part of working at the company?
In spite of the millions of bodies on the floor and the tension built up throughout the convention I was relaxed as I performed the duties of my position.  Our sister event site were not as organized or trained, product was iffy so I rate Aramark top in their field.. 
TY Aramark 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Getting through the traffic if you're late 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Busy, crowded and loud. In the event it self they all had the motif (s) of the individual convention as well as which one was going on, needless to say they can attract quite a crowd even in small towns it gets busy. And when the facility is as big as two football fields packed or busy it will get hectic.. and conventioners are not always the nicest in the business buyers or sellers.
It's just the way it is . .

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Short and fun the people return to work even in those 1099 outfits so when you're familiar with some people and you're working you are going to want to finish as well as finish on time and not angry.   Aramark was there for us.

Day starts with finding out what you do or don’t have to deliver that day. Nothing is consistent, which makes it very difficult to maintain good relationships with paying customers.

I learned not to ask questions. I learned no good deed goes unpunished. And I learned if you’re bad enough at your job, you’ll be given all the easiest tasks because they are “unreliable” but not “fire-able,” meaning someone else is left picking up that person’s slack.

Work culture is, and I quote, “make it work.”

The hardest part of the job is the mental stress from customers who are justly frustrated about things the company lacks, then the company points the finger at you. Having a GM who is unwilling to listen to his “team” (prepare to explain yourself over and over and over) adds to the stress. On top of that, the company monitors every metric of what you do, while also expecting you to act as your own sales rep in addition to all the labor and driving — all without pay increases. But they will threaten to write you up for insubordination if you express any kind of “push back.”

Most enjoyable part: you get to travel.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production operator 897 salaries reported	$16.87 per hour
Route driver 360 salaries reported	$23.56 per hour
Operator 438 salaries reported	$18.07 per hour
Account executive 88 salaries reported	$70,229 per year
Folder 147 salaries reported	$17.65 per hour

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