Pros
My co-workers were the only thing that made this job tolerable
Cons
The management at our store was largely absent, with severe favoritism shown towards the higher-ups' local stores in Carlow and Portlaoise. We were barely on their radar unless they had to make an appearance, which was rare, and even then, they would only stay for an hour or so before leaving. During my time at Hale, I experienced two plug sockets that melted and sparked, yet management simply told us to avoid using them and made no effort to repair them. We were forced to keep the shop door open in freezing, wet weather, with no proper heating in the store or proper winter coats provided by the company . The back room and bathroom were in appalling condition, with no lights, tripping hazards, and mold in the bathroom and bathroom window stuck together with duck tape —all of which management was fully aware of but failed to address. We, as employees, took it upon ourselves to make the bathroom usable by fixing the rotten window, as management never addressed it. When we brought this up, we were told we were "lucky to have a toilet," as some stores didn't even have one. Whenever issues with stock arose, it was always our responsibility to resolve them, yet management never considered that our till was practically unusable—products wouldn’t scan properly, affecting stock takes. This was because the high-powered till was being run off a phone modem that never had a proper connection . Management was quick to criticize in group chats if stock checks weren’t submitted on time, completely disregarding the fact that we were often working alone in the store all day. However, when we pointed out that management hadn’t updated the stock checks we’d submitted earlier in the week or sometimes weeks , we were met with reprimands and accused of having the "audacity" to question them I would highly stay away from this company