The good, bad and ugly at M&S - Sales Assistant Marks & Spencer Employee Review

3.0
Aug 20, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The pay is quite good in comparison to other retailers. There are some good perks that come with the job such a staff shop, subsidised canteen and the chance to buy any food nearing its sell by date at a big discount. You get a 20% staff discount card which your partner can get too. There are lots of discounts arranged with other companies such as cheap deals with BUPA and HSA etc. The uniform is okay compared to some other shops.

Cons

The worst part of the job is how boring it is. The work is so very repetitive and there is little scope to move around and do other tasks. You can often be doing the same thing for up to 11 hours without a change. The customers can be really awful and treat the staff terribly. The training is quite useless. It involves reading tedious sheets of information but if you have questions not covered by the info packs nobody seems to have an answer for you. When business is good you can get lots of extra shifts but as soon as its quiet hours can get slashed with no notice. There is an awful lot of nepatism and you constantly see people only getting their jobs or promotions because of other family who works there. As to be expected in most workplaces it can be quite bitchy. The good perks of the job are constantly being eroded so it feels like the benefits for doing your job are getting fewer and fewer.

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5.0
Aug 5, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I love how positive the working environment

Cons

I dont like some of the names of the bread

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Marks & Spencer Response
11mo
Hi there, thanks so much for leaving such a great review – it’s lovely to hear that you enjoyed working for us! We're so grateful for your kind words, so thanks for sharing your review with us and the Glassdoor community. Our success relies on the dedication of employees like yourself, so we thank you for all your hard work! Wishing you all the best, Marks and Spencer
1.0
Jul 27, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-20% discount -I must enter 5 words

Cons

Never before have I worked for a company where the threat of gross misconduct is thrown around constantly by management. Senior members of staff have been given wrriten warnings over sudden changes in policy. Instead of carrot and stick you're just given the stick. A sudden change in policy comes in and immediately a TM or TSM will tell you "if you can't do this you will recieve a written warning or disciplinary." That is a best case scenario, the alternative is nobody tells you and you continue to do everything as normal and you get punished for an absolute absence of communication. Regional managers pressure Store Managers to hand out punishments like quotas. Worst of all, the company promotes immature and lazy managers for the most part, who will happily stand around doing absolutely nothing, but drive workers aged 60+ like a cart horse. Sorting basic worker's rights like annual leave is a chore to them, and they act as though they are doing you a favour when you do the bare minimum. Favouritism in my store is endemic. Not all managers are like this, my store manager just happens to like a handful of staff and puts down everyone else.

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Marks & Spencer Response
11mo
Thanks for raising your concerns. We're really sorry to hear you’re unhappy and we want you to know that at M&S, we care deeply about doing the right thing and acting with integrity, building trust, supporting one another and taking the time to listen. You have already addressed the first step of voicing your views on here, and now we encourage you to talk to your Line Manager. If you feel you cannot approach your Line Manager, then tell a more senior person or someone who you feel most at ease with, for example your BIG rep or your HR Business Partner. Thanks again for sharing, - Marks and Spencer
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