The. worst. ever. - Manager Vans Employee Review

1.0
11 May 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A laid back environment. Some of the people who work for the company are cool.

Cons

The culture of Vans has died. This is a prime example of what happens to a company when it gets too big. There's a huge disconnect between the corporate office and the stores. The bottom line in all cases is dollars and cents. I understand that's there;s money to be made, but don't advertise yourself as being about the people if that isn't the case. "You can't take KPI's to the bank, make more money" Payroll here is horrible. I like to believe that that's because of VF and Not Vans, but since communication to the field is a lackluster who knows. In this company your forced to buy uniform pieces. Since the company outsourced to outside the great USA and the shoes are made in Asia, the shelf life on them for someone who works 40 hours a week is about 2 months. You're provided one pair of shoes a year, once those are blown out you have to pay out of pocket. In the California stores nobody takes 10 min breaks because there's no coverage on the sales floor (horrible labor allocation). The company continues to open new stores but doesn't have the man power to back it up. It's no wonder Vans has such a high turn over rate. The pay? The worst in the industry I've ever seen. Everyone in the stores is under paid by about 30% on average. Vans does not pay competitively. Supervisors are paid just above minimum wage.

Explore other reviews about Vans

5.0
6 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Everyone was so nice and the job was very fun! I miss it every day.

Cons

Sometimes I didn't like the shoe designs.

3.0
22 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The environment is absolutely amazing with my coworkers and they are always supportive. Any issues that arise are met with a high level of humanity - on the base level of the people I work with, because I haven't really delt with corporate. It genuinely feels nice to work here when you have a team like mine. The culture of skating is absolutely amazing to learn about at VANs and be a part of as well. I like the history behind some of the shoes, but that's probably just because I'm a history nerd.

Cons

Part time doesn't get many hours or enough pay to survive off of. However, you can't become full time unless you get a higher position. Sadly, they are incredibly hard to get, due to the fact people seem to stay with VANs if they get that promotion, just because it seems to be great to work here once you have that higher position. As well as the usual shift is 4 hours, and sometimes you only get one shift a week. It's just incredibly hard to stay here when it can't even give you enough money on your paychecks to get a small amount of groceries that'll last one person two weeks.

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