Archived Costco?

[garbage]

Just started a seasonal job at Costco. Anyone else ever worked there? Thoughts/opinions?

I can tell you right now, Spot treats their employees much better and is a WHOLE lot more organized.

 

[NKG]

@Pale

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Better pay & holidays off.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

Just started a seasonal job at Costco. Anyone else ever worked there? Thoughts/opinions?

I can tell you right now, Spot treats their employees much better and is a WHOLE lot more organized.

I've heard Costco treats their employees better???

 

[Burlseveryday]

Currently work as a seasonal assistant on the Front End myself. Virtually every part of compensation is significantly better than what you'd find at spot or any other retailer for that matter.
Starting pay, while $2/hr higher, pales in comparison to some of the other benefits. The major perk wage-wise is the wage progression. You get raises based on hours of service rather than meager increases that barely surpass inflation.
For Service assistants, the matrix looks like this:
0-1039 hours=$14.00
1040-2079=$14.50
2080-3119=$15.50
3120-4159=$16.50
4160-5199=$17.50
5200-6239=$19.00
6240-7279=$20.50
7280+ =$23.15

Costco still has Sunday premium pay so if you work on Sunday you make time and a half.

If you get retained after the seasonal period you are re-classified as a part-time employee which guarantees you a minimum of 24 hours per week.

Costco warehouses are also closed on seven major holidays. (New Years, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) non-seasonal employees receive holiday pay for those days. Costco also provides a paid floating holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday which can be taken up to 2 weeks before or 4 weeks after the actual holiday.

Non-seasonal U.S. Costco employees receive one week of paid vacation after 1 year of service 2 weeks after 2 years, 3 weeks after 5 years, 4 weeks after 10 years, and 5 weeks after 15 years of continuous service.
In addition to the corresponding annual vacation accrual, employees earn 9 personal/sick days per year.

Costco offers health insurance to all of its part-time and full-time employees.

Employees who have worked over 12,600 hours (about 6 years at 40hrs/week) qualify for bonus checks. Bonus checks depend on length of service and range from $2500-$4000 for full-time. Part-time checks are prorated by average hours for the year.
Bonus checks are paid every 6 months so it is certainly possible to make over $60k per year as a cashier at Costco. (Keep in mind, cashier is classified as a service clerk and the pay-scale is slightly higher than the service assistant one that I listed)

As far as the actual work goes, there is certainly an expectation that employees hustle. Which is understandable given the earning potential. Some of the Costco Lifers can be difficult to work with as some of them tend to show disdain towards newer employees. That has certainly been something that I've found frustrating. Managers and supervisors seem much more competent at my warehouse than their Target counterparts. Although, I've found that other retail managers I've worked for also showed more competency than their Target counterparts. Target's system for locating product both in the backroom and on the sales floor is much more sophisticated. I think Costco has an opportunity to improve that aspect of their business significantly.

 

[Llamanatee]

Currently work as a seasonal assistant on the Front End myself. Virtually every part of compensation is significantly better than what you'd find at spot or any other retailer for that matter.
Starting pay isn't much higher (Currently $14/hr in the U.S.) the major perk wage-wise is the wage progression. You get raises based on hours of service rather than meager increases that barely surpass inflation.
For Service clerks, the matrix looks like this:
0-1039 hours=$14.00
1040-207=$14.50
2080-3119=$15.50
3120-4159=$16.50
4160-5199=$17.50
5200-6239=$19.00
6240-7279=$20.50
7280+ =$23.15

Costco still has Sunday premium pay so if you work on Sunday you make time and a half.

If you get retained after the seasonal period you are re-classified as a part-time employee which guarantees you a minimum of 24 hours per week.

Costco warehouses are also closed on seven major holidays. (New Years, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) non-seasonal employees receive holiday pay for those days. Costco also provides a paid floating holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday which can be taken up to 2 weeks before or 4 weeks after the actual holiday.

Non-seasonal U.S. Costco employees receive one week of paid vacation after 1 year of service 2 weeks after 2 years, 3 weeks after 5 years, 4 weeks after 10 years, and 5 weeks after 15 years of continuous service.
In addition to the corresponding annual vacation accrual, employees earn 9 personal/sick days per year.

Costco offers health insurance to all of its part-time and full-time employees.

Employees who have worked over 12,600 hours (about 6 years at 40hrs/week) qualify for bonus checks. Bonus checks depend on length of service and range from $2500-$4000 for full-time. Part-time checks are prorated by average hours for the year.
Bonus checks are paid every 6 months so it is certainly possible to make over $60k per year as a cashier at Costco. (Keep in mind, cashier is classified as a service clerk and the pay-scale is slightly higher than the service assistant one that I listed)

As far as the actual work goes, there is certainly an expectation that employees hustle. Which is understandable given the earning potential. Some of the Costco Lifers can be difficult to work with as some of them tend to show disdain towards newer employees. That has certainly been something that I've found frustrating. Managers and supervisors seem much more competent at my warehouse than their Target counterparts. Although, I've found that other retail managers I've worked for also showed more competency than their Target counterparts. Target's system for locating product both in the backroom and on the sales floor is much more sophisticated. I think Costco has an opportunity to improve that aspect of their business significantly.

You just made me want to apply.

 

[Pale]

Current Costco employee, definitely worth the switch over. When I was with target still I felt like everything I did went unnoticed, I trained sales floor employees and wasnt even told thank you by our team leads. I would be the only person on the sales floor that bothers to actively backup and was only recognized by our GSA's, not even the fucking GSTL. I was mislead with my time in electronics, 75% of my shifts were in electronics for well over 6 months and I wasn't even getting the pay for that. I knew 3/4's of the departments and would work them actively, all for nothing. Everything I did at target went unrecognized by all of the leadership, it's the complete opposite at costco.

I work in electronics at Costco now, if I simply help find something for a member I'll get thanked by a supervisor if they had me help the member. I'll help out other departments in my areas downtime and it's recognized and often times the managers will even thank me. I feel like an actual person instead of just a useless pawn that doesn't get treated right. There is room for advancement aswell, I've been told they want to make me a supervisor down the line due to my member service skills, my knowledge of the product the store carries, and my general work ethic. The most important thing is that I don't dread having to go into work. I know that when I get there I have actual friends I'll be working with and not just work acquaintances.

I can tell you right now, Spot treats their employees much better and is a WHOLE lot more organized.

How so? I don't see target giving their employees $14 for a starting pay right off the bat (instead of waiting til' 2020, when chances are costco will have already raised their starting pay even more, I don't see target having benefits on the level that costco does. Don't even get my started on the 401k options, insurance options, etc.

 

[garbage]

How so? I don't see target giving their employees $14 for a starting pay right off the bat (instead of waiting til' 2020, when chances are costco will have already raised their starting pay even more, I don't see target having benefits on the level that costco does. Don't even get my started on the 401k options, insurance options, etc.

Might just be my warehouse, but I’ve been given 3 different schedules so far, seems like my supervisor, and two managers cannot agree on which on to follow. Last two days, there was only one person assigned to majors and also responsible for training me. It was a complete mess. No breaks and no one came from other departments to help out.
We are about to throw some boxes in the baler, while still receiving call after call for majors, only to find a group of 4 people just chilling and chatting back there. None of them said hi or offered to help.

Managers are useless as well. I have so far about 6 of them. Supervisors and managers. Not sure who I report to or who’s actually in charge. Seems like they don’t give a shit about anything but metics. My orientation and tour was a complete joke. Disorganized at all parts. Nobody knew what they were supposed to do. There isn’t any way to track inventory and no hand scanners to check prices.

At one point we were so overwhelmed, that my trainer was walking with some papers and stumbled, and accidentally dropped them and almost statrted to cry. This place is a complete joke. The high pay isn’t an excuse to treat your employees like dirt.

I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you guys that this is by far the worst run retail company I have ever worked for, apart from Hhgregg.

 

[IWishIKnew]

So, you're saying COSTCO may be ASANTS, too? And might have different experiences for employees based on individual store/regional leadership? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say.

 

[Antennae]

Might just be my warehouse, but I’ve been given 3 different schedules so far, seems like my supervisor, and two managers cannot agree on which on to follow. Last two days, there was only one person assigned to majors and also responsible for training me. It was a complete mess. No breaks and no one came from other departments to help out.
We are about to throw some boxes in the baler, while still receiving call after call for majors, only to find a group of 4 people just chilling and chatting back there. None of them said hi or offered to help.

Managers are useless as well. I have so far about 6 of them. Supervisors and managers. Not sure who I report to or who’s actually in charge. Seems like they don’t give a shit about anything but metics. My orientation and tour was a complete joke. Disorganized at all parts. Nobody knew what they were supposed to do. There isn’t any way to track inventory and no hand scanners to check prices.

Besides the hand scanners part, are you sure you're not mixing Target and Costco management because this sounds just like Target's management.

 

[garbage]

So, you're saying COSTCO may be ASANTS, too? And might have different experiences for employees based on individual store/regional leadership? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say.

That’s entirely possibly. I’m just ranting lol

Besides the hand scanners part, are you sure you're not mixing Target and Costco management because this sounds just like Target's management.

100% sure lol. My management at Target was awesome, well most of them. It was a lot more of a “team” environment. Everyone willing to help out everyone else. Here, not so much.

 

[Pale]

That's definitely just your warehouse. The four different warehouses I've shopped at all seem like they're extremely well run, the employees were helpful and knowledgeable on their department. Every warehouse has a few bad eggs, but my experience has been much better than at target.

 

[garbage]

That's definitely just your warehouse. The four different warehouses I've shopped at all seem like they're extremely well run, the employees were helpful and knowledgeable on their department. Every warehouse has a few bad eggs, but my experience has been much better than at target.

Does your warehouse like to write everyone up for fairly minor offenses? Someone at mine said they were written up for not facing merchandise at the end of their shift (didn’t have time). Another was written up for throwing dead batteries from a remote in the trash. They told him he could have been terminated, so they were going easy on him.

 

[Pale]

Does your warehouse like to write everyone up for fairly minor offenses? Someone at mine said they were written up for not facing merchandise at the end of their shift (didn’t have time). Another was written up for throwing dead batteries from a remote in the trash. They told him he could have been terminated, so they were going easy on him.

Only one supervisor at my warehouse is like that and as time goes on he gets closer and closer to getting fired, so that wont be an issue further down the line. And in the training for Costco, they would have known batteries are considered E-Waste and should have been brought back to RTV. So it was more than likely a coaching for disregarding the training they were given.

 

[redeye58]

Another was written up for throwing dead batteries from a remote in the trash. They told him he could have been terminated, so they were going easy on him.

We had a CA put on final for tossing aerosol cans in the compactor despite the fact he'd been thru hazard waste training.

 

[YoNanas]

Besides the hand scanners part, are you sure you're not mixing Target and Costco management because this sounds just like Target's management.

If some of the managers came from Target, then they run shit the same way. Lol. You know how they hop jobs from one place to another. Just sayin' ☺

 

[YoNanas]

That’s entirely possibly. I’m just ranting lol

100% sure lol. My management at Target was awesome, well most of them. It was a lot more of a “team” environment. Everyone willing to help out everyone else. Here, not so much.

The "team" environment at Target is gone with E2E and Modernization