store manager

stylist

sales assistant

assistant store manager

retail sales associate

Strandbags

* Any casual who has worked for Strandbags will express dissatisfaction with rostering and how hours are determined. The individual who makes the least % of their budget will be given the least amount of hours. It does not matter if you make 100% (or more!) of your individual budget because if the rest of the team out perform you will still be given >10 hours per week. This happened to me multiple times. And obviously the less hours you receive the less opportunities you have to reach your targets- it’s a vicious cycle and leads to a very negative work environment where staff are constantly stressed and fighting for sales, especially on quieter days. I think all people considering applying for casual positions at strandbags should be made aware of this. 

* No HR department- only your mananger and regional manager to deal with staff issues/complaints- how well do you think that goes down (especially when the complaints are about them)?

* Lots of pressure all of the time- I worked in a busier store where you were dealing with customers, plus a different promo change every single week (sometimes more than once a week), plus receiving oftentimes upwards of 20 massive boxes of stock per day. 
You were expected to complete these tasks in very unrealistic timeframes whilst still making your budget (for a 4 hour shift on a weekday my budget would be between $1000-$1500). If you did not get everything done in time you would be reprimanded by management or your regional. 
 What is expected of you as a CASUAL vs what you receive in rewards/incentives from the company is laughable. You get, and I am not exaggerating, NOTHING. Managers get a substantial bonus at the end of each month if the store makes budget, that’s it. 
There is no opportunity for advancement as the only permanent roles offered are for managers. 
If you do not perform to strandbags ridiculously high standards you will be “punished” (vis-à-vis no hours). If you do perform your “reward” is more hours. Thats it.


* One pro of working here was that I gained some very valuable customer service experience. 
There were lots of difficult customers and so it was definitely good to learn how to handle people like this. 
Another pro was that I got along with my team and made some lifelong friends.

I realise this is a very long and comprehensive review but I want people to know the truth, and it is not just my truth. Working in toxic environments leads to stress and poor mental health. I witnessed 2 staff quit in the time that I was working there due to their mental health suffering from the undue stress caused by this company. 

You can do better people, even in retail! There are better companies to work for who actually value their employees and don’t just treat you like a number.

i worked at a local place alongside another job as a Christmas casual, and the expectations for handling stock and ignoring customers in order to do so was disgusting. we were sent around 70 boxes of stock every mon-fri, and when i was in i was expected to unpack all the boxes, label, sort out the back in their designated areas/put on the floor all while not serving anyone in more store in a maximum of two hours. even though there were two of us normally doing it to try and get it done, every ten minutes i would be asked to do something else (*quick jobs*), and then would get a lecture when i didn't complete the stock on time because i was always distracted. the manager clearly did not like that i was faster than her at the job and that customers felt more comfortable talking to me about gift ideas to suite my age bracket, and it felt like every opportunity was taken to keep me away from customer service.

although i never had any problem with my pay, and was always given two weeks in advance for shifts so i could match it with the other job at the time, it felt like i was being held down by my manager to forward myself and learn more about retail (because this was technically my first job). I loved all the other employees and got on really well with them, and i love to pop in every now and then to see how they are doing. But in terms of the company in general, because i worked in other stores and it was almost as if they had been told to keep me out the back or were just completely unorganised, i don't recommend working here until they re-evaluate the motives of their head positions. 

i was also told at the end of one of my shifts that i was being let off because 'i wasn't fast enough' for the job... not leaving me any time to say goodbye to the others or to get myself a secured position somewhere else. i considered it to be unthoughtful and spiteful, and overall quite unprofessional.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at this company was the opening and closing shifts. They often ran smoothly and only required setting up or fixing the visual displays.  Cleaning up was the easiest part of the job.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part of the job was dealing with warehouse communication issues and problems with having limited staff in shifts. It made it harder to clean and tidy on shift and would often result in having stressed co-workers and upset customers (due to wait-times).  Management also provided little help during visits and sightings, would only really respond to or communicate with us in relation to making the place 'look better' or customer complaints. Swapping shifts and finding covers was also hard (even as a casual), often just resulting in having less team on the floor.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Management cares more about VM and visual displays then the stress of the staff on the floor. They often don't take into consideration that on top of keeping the store presentable we must deal with unpacking deliveries, dealing with stock-levels (due to theft), online orders/click and collects as well as customers on the floor. Times like this made it difficult to work properly and cause problems between staff and management. However, during slower times of the year work would run a lot smoother as there was less stock coming in and less staff needed to complete tasks

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Unpacking and adjusting stock, tidy up after customers, fixing the storage room and dealing with customer questions, orders and demands.

I was expected to run the store before I got my management contract for almost a year as a causal with no days off and only one other team member. I would never ever recommend anyone work for this company. I ended up burnt out and had told my regional for months, we came to the agreement I could have a day off each week on a Tuesday to sort out my mental health. I got only one Tuesday off 9 weeks after The agreement was made and when I was at my lowest point was told “you’re gonna have to put that on a back burner for now” after I expressed that the job had spiralled me into a deep depression. No work life balance at all, you’re just a number in their eyes. For a company that claims to have a “people first” culture, that only applies if you work in head office apparently. KPI’s are outrageously high and higher up/head office micromanages everything like there’s no tomorrow. You’re better off working in a bigger store if you want support bc if you’re in a “brown store” you basically don’t exist until they want to steal you’re already stretched team members to help another store with already 4-5 team members working while you’re left alone and told to just get on with it. Also asked to stay back until close on a Thursday night if someone calls in, instead of pulling a staff member from a bigger store but it’s okay for them to pull staff from an already struggling store without a replacement or warning about it 

Strandbags culture forces staff to compete against each other to fulfill personal budgets which results in staff stealing sales from each other (including the manager) just to keep hours.

Staff are constantly stressed and dismissed when concerns are raised, dubbed as 'lazy' and 'entitled' and general gas lighting and bullying occurs by management and other staff daily. 

There is no loyalty to staff, they will cut you down to 3 hours a week and cite 'performance' as a reason, which would be reasonable if budgets were feasible. 

Management will tell you staff only do one stock shift a week that makes it impossible to make budget, and will generally target one or two staff for the actual day to day behind the scenes jobs so its impossible to make your budget then blame you for not making your budget. 

If anyone comes in with a strandbags bag in hand, staff will scatter away so they don't have to process the likely return, again, including the manager. 

Backrooms are cramped and stock is piled from the ground to the ceiling, with luggage everywhere in a tiny room which makes it hard to use ladders safely.

Have received emails from head office that when a leather bag comes in with mould on it to wipe it off and sell it anyways. 

The only good part of this job is he camaraderie you can build with some staff because you're all in the same boat. 

The point of sale system is old, outdated and every single process is overly complicated with multiple paperwork, all designed with the intention of All Staff Steals.

The company seemed really organised and professional during the first day. Store manager ended up going on maternal leave a week after being hired which the company took too long to organise replacement management and rostering became a big mess. Most of the ladies were wonderful but as always you have your few know it all’s who get involved where they shouldn’t. Very easy job, easy to learn and adapt however no training was provided as promised and little to no opportunity to be apart of the team. Was basically left to be a door person yet constantly put down for lack of sales. Constantly took initiative to learn and ask for help and was always told there is no time to train or help me, other people hired at the same time were given training or help which was disappointing as it showed discrimination and lack of care.Other workers poach your sales that you put effort into and take advantage of you being new. Some workers go above and beyond to help you. Overall if you don’t care about this company being a serious job and you are ok with 6 hours a week then this is the job for you. 

Stressful and fast-paced work. If you don’t sell, then you get a stern taking to or lose your job. There are only casuals or managers, no part time in the company and like never any advancements in the company. Unless you work there for 5 years+ really. Can work at many different stores around which is good variety but it’s rare to get more than 10-15 hours a week and you have to be on call for atleast 5 days a week or they don’t want you. (That goes for uni students and working mums too). CANNOT take time off or go away between start of November and end of February, schools holidays, or public holidays. Hourly pay is good though and most casuals need to work weekends too and Thursday late nights. Training takes a fair while but once you’re trained it makes the job easier and can be fun. Not a job for you if you get critisized or offended easily by customers especially when you get screamed at for something not your fault. Cannot take things personally or your mental health work drain. Between December and January is lots of hours and the money is good. Good Friendships can be formed in the company but get on the good side with managers as they choose the rosters every fortnight

Hours could definitely be better, if you’re looking for lots of hrs this is definitely not the place for you. For a retail job I can’t really complain but there are things that could be improved. During the day you will unpack stock, serve customers, tidy and replenish stock. There is a lot of info you have to learn about bags and luggage but majority of it is common sense. The worst part about the job again is the hrs. During peak you can expect up to 5 shifts a week that go for 3-5hrs as they don’t want to give you a paid break and during quiet months you could be lucky to get 1-3 shifts a week. Also during peak if it is quiet they will send you home as soon as you have worked for 3 hrs because strandbags is all about saving as much money as possible when it comes to shifts. They have recently dropped hrs for shifts and even some employees have been told to look for another job as the hrs they will get won’t be enough to survive off. Overall job is alright, pretty easy although you are on your feet the whole shift. Depending on the manager the shifts can be pretty flexible except during peak (Christmas) where you are expected to be available 24/7. I would only recommend this job if you are wanting 4 - 15hrs a week otherwise it’s not really worth your time. 

This is one of the worst companies I have ever worked for. Shifts are meant to be based on sales and yet they aren't and are just given to the women who are friends with the manager. Upper management is useless! They never care about anything until you don't make budget and then they make sure to call and tell you how disappointing you are and how you must not have tried hard enough. The store rooms are unsafe as they are way overstocked and never organised properly. I hurt myself numerous times and made incident reports and not once did the regional or manager ask if I was ok. We were treated like slaves and given numerous unrealistic tasks and high budgets to do during a 3 hour shift and if they aren't done by the end of shift we lose hours the following week. Its made harder by casuals having to compete for sales and some resorting to bullying tactics and stealing sales in order to make their budget. There is so many more things wrong with this company but I will stop there. All in all I would never recommend working here to anyone!

I started as a manager early in the year, and quickly relised it was not a good company to work for, 
The pay for managers is atrocious literally just over $700 a week...FOR A MANAGER!!!
They do not have managers work on a sunday or public holiday as it costs more...they are all about KPI'S, budgets, cutting hrs, not helping their staff, 
The only good thing about me working at strandbags was my team, they were amazing and really enjoyed working with them, (they have also left due to hrs being cut) 3hrs a week... strandbags are a joke.
Massive turnover in managers especially, does not have a good reputation for a business at all. 
Absolutely not worth anyones time or effort to work for strandbags,,, plus you will never be appreciated.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Store manager 2 salaries reported	$58,250 per year
Stylist 24 salaries reported	$27.23 per hour
Sales assistant 11 salaries reported	$29.69 per hour
Assistant store manager 1 salary reported	$59,000 per year
Retail sales associate 1 salary reported	$33.38 per hour

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