Next has an incredibly poor staff retention rate, and it doesn't take long to understand why.

Most days they are understaffed and workers are expected to go above and beyond for little to no respect or recognition. 

Managers are always stressed and under pressure due to staffing issues, and they constantly need staff to do overtime. This would be fine, except they take advantage of your hours and availability 24/7. Despite saying you cannot do certain days or times, they expect you to work far from your contracted hours, and will have you on the rota against your legally binding work hours. You then have to go through the hassle of getting your managers to remove you from the rota, every single time this happens.

If you are hardworking and good at your job, they will remove staff from your department and you will end up doing the work of multiple people. Expectations of you rise to a level which often leave you stressed due to the unrealistic amount of workload you are then given, all for no personal benefit and minimum wage. 



Next is a great place to work. You just need to be strong minded and hearted, stick up for youself and dont get back into a coner. Hours are on and off. You do have to do really late shifts and dealt early shifts and even over nighters. Working for next your never really feel like Christmas is specail anymore it's the sadest thing about working there. The staff turn over is huge you cant always keep up with who New or who's old, who's leaving next? Who's moving up? It's alot to take and there is alot to do. Good place to work. Managment is...On and off again thats all I can really say.

Next has grown as a company but has left behind any loyalty it had for it's staff. If you walk into any retail store you will find that over 80% of staff will be new recruits as the staff are underpaid (£6.30/h) and overworked. The company has introduced a new policy wherein they save tax by only employing part time staff who are only allowed to work upto 20 hrs a week, yet they expect there staff to be available 7 days a week! My own store has been reduced so much so that there are only 3 Manager. The store manager and his deputy manager. The  3rd manager is a part time manager. Like I said Next has become beyond a joke. Its supervisors only earn £7.97/h. I know shelf stackers at Tesco who earn more!

My average shift at Next includes making the shop floor presentable, till service and cash handling, clearing out stock, ensuring I am providing good customer service. All of this has taught me how to work in a retail environment confidently. The managers and co-workers are all helpful, understanding and made me feel welcome. Interacting with the customers is the most enjoyable part of the job, however during sale time the shop can become quite hectic, although I am used to it, i'd consider it the hardest part of the job.

A typical day at work was making sure that the shop floor was always tidy and making sure that they customers were getting approached and making sure they could find everything they were looking for. this job helped me to learn how to approach customers effectively. The hardest part of working at next was working the day of boxing day sales as the customers were rude and pushed you out the way when tidying the floors to make sure the place was still tidy. 

Applied for office assistant.. was offered the job but was told it was stockroom and tills no office work at all..  at my interview the manager had her child in and out of her office the whole time...after 3 weeks I didn't go in as my father in law died early hours Sunday morning.. called and was told to come in Monday to do shift.. was called to office 2 minutes after clocking in.. sacked and escorted off the premises like a criminal. Awful place to work for no bonus. Management is terrible.

Repetitive days, mundane tasks, never challenged at work asked to do the same tasks each day. No progression.
Majority of management speak down to you and not valued within company no matter how long you have worked there or how much effort you commit to the job.
Rarely asked if you can do extra hours often just put in without authorising you are available.

A typical day I would deal with customers face to face and help with any problems, I also learned how to deal with customers efficiently and also helpfully. my co-workers were very helpful with helping me progress with my skills and also gave me advice on what I should be doing. The hardest part of the job was keeping the floors clear and clothing on hangers on sales day. the most enjoyable part of the job was interacting with the customers and helping them with their queries.

I have experience in many departments in retail. Which demonstrates the diversity and adaptation I possess. My creative nature was a benefit when constructing visual displays in the shop windows and round the store.  Further more, the process of ‘stock take’, an annual procedure that is vital to the store checking its financial year of sales.  This procedure takes concentration and accuracy to achieve successfully.

After a number of years working for the company I have made some lifetime friendships and learnt a lot about myself and grown into a better person.
However, the work load and appreciation for the work load sometimes goes unnoticed.
For a company this big their rewards for their staff is terrible, not to mention the pay we get for the hours and amount of work we have to do.

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