retail sales associate

merchandiser

buyer

sales assistant

assistant buyer

Primark

If you can get somewhere else to work I strongly advise to AVOID Penneys (specifically Tralee) for multiple reasons.

1.) HOURS
They cut all of the part-time workers hours with absolutely no warning and lied and said that it was only temporarily. I went from 30 hours a week to 12!!! 

2.) WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Despite the severe hour cuts, the work-life balance remained poor. They scheduled only four-hour shifts, resulting in five shifts a week for part-time staff working 20 hours, causing disruptions to personal life and limited time for other commitments.

3.) MANAGEMENT
This is perhaps the biggest reason of all. The managers are passive aggressive and condescending. There are far too many of them and they don't do anything besides talk to each other. They are extremely biased and only enforce the rules on workers they're not fond of (ex. the no talking rule). They also over hired by about 60 workers which led to all the part-time workers hours being cut. It was obvious they were being difficult about holidays or time off as a way to push out employees due to their over hiring problem. 
The management have a system were they review your work every 3, 5 and 10 weeks. They failed everyone ( all the part-time) on the most recent assessments at the end of summer over ridiculous non-issues such as talking and not looking happy. This further demonstrates them trying to save themselves on the over-hiring problem and is also frustrating to get a bad review from them when you do your work well.

4.) NO TALKING (absurd rule implemented by management)
What is incredibly frustrating and extremely hypocritical despite management freely socialising and talking (while doing no work), they do not allow talking amongst us lesser workers. They will passive aggressively give out to you and then separate you from coworkers if you so much as say a word to each other (no exaggeration.) This is in spite of the fact that we're still working efficiently (it's folding clothes it's neither hard nor as significant as the managers think.) It is incredibly mentally draining doing this dull job and going without so much as peeping a word to another person the entire time. It takes a toll on your mind and makes the day drag impossibly long. Every other job I've worked (and they were also more complicated than folding clothes) has had the understanding that if you can do the work efficiently than you are allowed to converse with coworkers. 

5.) POOR FLEXIBILITY
They hate simple shift swapping and absolutely will not give you any holidays as summer staff are there to give "full time staff their holidays".

6.) MIND-NUMBING WORK
If you think this job goes further than folding clothes you would be wrong. It is the most tedious, repetitive job I have ever done. You feel worthless. With the over-hiring there's not even clothes to fold!! It'd maybe be bearable if we were allowed to converse but as I mentioned before it is near forbidden.

Overall,
I'm sorry I ever had the displeasure of working here. If you value yourself and don't want to be treated unfairly by the dictatorial managers while doing the most mind numbing work of your life DO NOT WORK IN PENNEYS (TRALEE).

Penneys is a great starting job, it offers a good wage and also good experience when it comes to working in retail.
I have to agree with the hundreds of reviews that I've seen here about management. 
A lot of the management have poor communication skills and have let the title/status of their job get to their head to the point that they're on an undying power trip. They pick and choose favourites, they gossip and talk about people just like the young staff members that are still in literal school, when they do this they only contribute even more to the toxicity in the work place. They enforce a 'no talking' rule and can become extremely rude and hurtful if they catch you talking but of course they allow their favourites to do laps of the floor with them talking for an age and escaping the work they are also being paid to do, leaving more responsibility on those of us actively trying to make the floor a safe, tidied up environment. 

There's a lack of support within the job too, any issues with management are over looked and even issues with colleagues. 
I think there also could be improvements made to the basic training for new people, you are completely thrown into the deep end when you begin working and you basically have to learn everything by either asking for help or watching others (not everyone is friendly enough to help you)

Getting time off is really stressful, it always feels like you live for this job, when really you should be living the way you can/want to and have the job meet you half way. It's horrible having to miss so many personal events even when you asked ahead of time just because they say no at any time.

Another thing is that there are so many great opportunities within this company but you can be denied them for literally no reason at all, any special training you want to apply for or night shifts can have you utterly rejected with no explanation no matter how many years you are there.

The treatment from full time staff is half and half, a lot of them are nice and willing to share valuable advice and then there's the other half that talk to you how they want, slack on their work and responsibilities because they feel as though they are entitled to because of how many years at penneys they have under their belt. I have witnessed full time staff even treating managers terribly to the point you can see pure disbelief and sadness on the managers face.

There are so many pros and cons to this job although i High lighted so many negatives, it's not often that we get to share everything that we want to as the survey within our company that is supposed to be the voices of the staff, is just ignored and overturned. Penneys is a good place to work in, you meet so many great and influential people and gain experience that you may never had before.

PAY & BENEFITS: Pay is very competitive, probably the best rates around for retail. Pay increases every year which is a huge reason I stayed in Penneys. There's bonus pay at Christmas and time and a half on Sundays. No real benefits aside from pay. Discount is small and seasonal (not available all the time). No healthcare or additional benefits. 

SHIFTS: Horrible. No work/life balance at all. New and young staff are given late (7pm or 9pm) finishes constantly while older staff never get them. Some shifts are as short as 4 hours, leaving you with hours like 5pm-9pm with no break. No rotation of shifts due to laziness from HR. Rosters are copy and pasted. HR hate when you swap shifts and days off have to be booked at least a month before! My social life and mental health suffered due to the lack of work/life balance. HR don't care about staffs work/life balance or shift rotation.

MANAGEMENT & HR: Management are usually nice but in my opinion, poorly trained in how to efficiently manage staff and run the shop. Management definitely play favourites and are scared to push older, permanent staff to actually do their jobs, meaning young and new staff get left with everything. I did find that occasionally, managers would show their appreciation for hard work which was nice. Communication between management is poor, same between the different people in HR. HR are EXTREMELY strict - meaning you could be called into disciplinary hearings due to ridiculous things like not having a name badge. HR are poorly trained and lazy, from my experience. HR have also told staff they have a "limited amount of sick days". Sometimes working there felt a bit like I was a child in school (managers getting angry if you don't ask to go to the toilet/get water etc).

WORKLOAD: The work in Penneys is very easy and not too stressful. The only frustrating thing can be being made to pick up others slack. 

I gained a lot of valuable retail and customer service from Penneys but it's clear that their staff well-being is not a priority. More thorough training for management and HR would make it a much more pleasant place to work. It's fine and I would reccomend it for no more than a year.

The pay was great, there was a pay rise every 6 months or so (by a percent or two, but it all adds up!), and your pay goes up every year on the anniversary of your start date- so after five years, you could be on nearly €16 an hour. Plus you get a lot of hours each week, so you won't be without cash!
Four weeks paid holiday leave on permanent contracts, plus Christmas bonus at the end of November. 
The work isn't hard, it's just the customers, constant mess and some of the managers that you've to deal with. Training is comprehensive, and if you're ever stuck, you can always ask someone. Some managers are lovely, others are on a complete power trip, which you'll notice very quickly and learn how to avoid. HR are fine, just don't annoy them, they get annoyed easily... 
Have a thick skin, because you'll need it with a lot of the customers! Don't take any of the comments or insults to heart, plus you'll learn soon enough to not care about what they say. 
Very messy, all the time- especially during the summer months and around Christmastime. Don't panic if a table doesn't get fully folded, or if there's still clearing to do at the end of the night- it'll get done tomorrow.
Staff are great, people are usually always friendly and helpful. 
Don't have too many lates on temporary contracts! No matter how good you are, if you're late more than twice, you're gone. And no sick calls, either. Can't ask for a Saturday off on temp. contract, no matter what the occasion is (obviously not including if a funeral comes up, or something along those lines). Temps usually get the late shifts, so expect to be in until 9pm or even 10pm, depending on the store (O'C. Street).

•Good wages for the retail industry. 
•Great leeway for needing time off and quite lenient and understanding if you are genuinely ill.
•Hard work is genuinely appreciated by managers. But you end up picking up others slack and getting grief from those staff for showing them up. So basically don’t work too quickly if you want to fit in.
•Great opportunities to progress in store. I’ve known staff to go from retail assistants to supervisors to managers. 
•Most staff are friendly but because it’s a big store there is also lots of grievances and gossip. 
•I learned a lot about fashion, merchandising, good customer service among a lot of other skills.
• I’ve worked both part time and full time positions so I do feel that full time staff get preferential treatment and more respect  than the part time staff.
•The actual work can be very physical when drawing stock putting it out. Heavy boxes, stripping plastic and often moving stock to keep a fresh look.
• But the evening work consists of tidying stock which can be very monotonous and drag out the time.
•The tills are fine and gives you a break and a chance to rest your feet since they have seats.
•Fitting-rooms are a nightmare though, the system isn’t followed properly so adds to confusion and irate customers. Also they are very busy and you can’t count the clothes properly when people are leaving because the stock is rolled up in balls and thrown at you when the customer is leaving. And it’s hard to not sound rude while asking them to hand them to you properly. 
But generally it’s a good place to work.

Learnt about manual handling, communication and working in a fast-paced environment. I worked as part of a team (received instructions by managers on the floor, coordinated with them and other sales assistants) kept assigned area presentable (kept the floor clean, tables tidy, rails clear) and interacted with customers (offered assistance to customers, gave them directions or helped them find items), altered replenished stock on the floor when necessary. 

The managers and HR department were very good and hands-on for the most part (a few of them were rude, inconsiderate, utterly uninterested in the employees they supervised, and overall terrible). All fellow sales assistants were friendly, helpful and willing to work well together.

The only problem I personally had was communication with managers about how I was doing my job. If I wasn't working fast enough at one display, or paying enough attention to one table or if they had a question about my work; they wouldn't just outright tell me so I could immediately answer their questions or fix a flaw. They would wait weeks later to tell me in an assessment. That always seemed futile to me. 

I enjoyed it when I helped a customer. When I had a display perfectly organised. When I could tell a manager that my area was clear and controlled enough that I could assist in another area. When I replenished all my necessary stock. I enjoyed interacting with my colleagues and working with them.

What is the best part of working at the company?
As someone who has ADHD I dont feel the staff were equipped to work with neurodiverse people. My work was never enough and there was never one task given at a time or at least acknowledgement of previous given tasks by other managers otherwise the pay was nice. I also never received my manual handling training due to the fact that they had organized for too many people to be in on my induction day. It would be a much better expierience if the communication and organizational skills were improved on

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The lack of communication between managers to managers and mangers to staff.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Its very much a receive orders and do it immediately environment. There is no chat tolerated between co-workers even when they are effectively performing a task. If you dont have a watch you will miss your breaks so highly recommend this!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
you go in and clock in and then wait for the list of people to be called out and their assigned sections would be on the roster. Once you get there depending on where you were assigned the manager would come to you throughout the shift with tasks to complete as they came up. you get a 15m break and an hour lunch which you can leave the premace for but the mary st branch had a lunch room with food.

Most of the management in this store are absolutely awful. Some floor managers belittle staff openly in front of customers and colleagues as well as to eachother when they think they are out of earshot. They have favourites among their staff with some being allowed to spend the day chatting while others are constantly being checked on and given extra work to pick up the slack. 

Emails to HR about roster requests often don't get answered and only after the more emails or having to go into the store and ask in person are rosters changed. Staff are left waiting outside on early mornings when no manager is rostered to start because of mix ups or because the managers don't arrive until 10 minutes before clock in. You are often be told to do different things by different managers because they don't let eachother know what they have their staff doing. The stockroom is so full of stock that it's very easy to trip or fall over something and unless you get injured it's just forgotten about and no report filled out. There is a real culture of fear of what management will do if anything is reported. This is made worse by the fact that there is no union representative for the shop. 

It was honestly one of the worst run places I have ever worked and I am glad that I don't have to deal with the management there anymore.

Not sure what it’s like in other locations but this location was not an enjoyable Penney’s to work for, very unenjoyable for seasonal staff; clear favouritism from management between seasonal and permanent staff i.e some permanent staff get away with not pulling their weight, given easier tasks to do. Temporary staff got in a lot more trouble for stupid reasons such as being too chatty, then not being chatty enough, being 30 seconds late off your lunch etc. Doesn’t matter how hard working you are. Overheard management and many older members of staff insulting the abilities of seasonal workers, with some being reduced to tears by the comments made! Very over staffed which led to many people standing around with nothing to do, and very very little hours each week. No variety in what work you’re given, either sit at the tills all day or stand in the corner and fold t shirts. While being on tills I found myself up to my eyes with sales and a queue out the door while the permanent staff would huddle together behind the counter and have a chat amongst themselves. Only benefit is the staff discount that’s given once every now and again and 1 or 2 managers that would chat to you like a normal person. Great if you’re permanent not if you’re temporary! 

Working in Penneys usually consisted of re-stocking shelves and making sure my department given is clean , tidy and looking respectable for the customer. Helping the customers with finding products or clothing items or any problems they may have. In Penneys I learned how to work on tills , how to use a stock room and the right way to handle stock , how to put stock away on floor and how to keep the floor safe and comfortable for the costumer , the main thing i learned while working in Penneys is brilliant customer service skills and a positive attitude towards working and the customer. Management in Penneys was good , everyone was treated fairly spoken to nicely and communication between the managers and floor staff was very good. Theres a brillaint sense of team work in Penneys and all the co-workers got on very well and had no problem helping each other out. The hardest part of working in Penneys was dealing with the overwhelming crowds during the Christmas months this got easier though as i got used to it. The most enjoyable part if working in Penneys was being able to work with such a nice team of people that are very helpful and caring.

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