Marks & Spencer reviews

3.7

63% would recommend to a friend

(11,350 total reviews)
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Stuart Machin

66% approve of CEO

50% positive business outlook

Marks & Spencer has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 11,350 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Marks & Spencer employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Einzel- & Großhandel industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

11K reviews
1.0
Jan 10, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Staff discount is the only upside of working for M&S getting the bargains and keeping back things that you know will be cheap. Although you do buy rubbish you don't need.

Cons

If you are ill, suffer an accident of God forbid you are pregnant you will be treat like a criminal. You will undergo investigations, meetings you are forced to go to and will probably be disciplined. Managers will treat you like a sub-human. When I was pregnant I was accused of lying about going to doctors appointments I eventually gave birth 13 weeks premature and my baby died at 1 week old, I was treat appallingly. It wasn't until my baby died that I received even a bunch of flowers from my employer and I was in hospital 5 weeks. I was then treat like a leper by management. I think it truly is an awful company to work for, they breed a type of non human manager who only does what it says in the book because quite frankly they don't have a brain in their head to do anything else.

2.0
Sep 25, 2014

It's going downhill, sadly.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you are lucky to work with some nice people, then they and the company can be incredibly supporting. But you need the right people to pull the right strings for you. The offices are nice and there is a fair culture, generally not much pressure and a lot of pride in the brand and in the business. Also, lovely cantine and exquisite food.

Cons

It is a very clique-y culture and there are a lot of lifers who underperform, but think that they are entitled to everything and walk around like they own the place. Some excellent management initiatives get lost in middle management and are not followed through. HR seem to be doing a smoke and mirrors approach to problems and there is zero effort to develop or retain staff. There was one very specific incident I highlighted at my exit interview after resigning which anywhere else would have been taken extremely seriously (and for the record, I had highlighted it before, not only at my exit interview) and the issue was brushed off - made me feel like they do not care and do not want to hear. Left a very bitter taste after 8 fairly happy years with the company.

1.0
Jan 15, 2026

Avoid

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Few benefits to working here except staff discounts

Cons

Victorian workhouse mentality. Extreme clock watching and intimidation of junior employees by management. Minimal(um) wage. High turnover of staff. Us and them culture with very little hope of career progression if you start at the bottom. An embarrassment that this is a revered UK brand.

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Marks & Spencer Response
5mo
Hi, thank you for your feedback. Your comments are invaluable to us, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. Whilst it's so great to hear that you thought the benefits were good and you enjoyed working with your coworkers, it’s discouraging to hear you were unhappy with some management decisions. We encourage all colleagues to link in with their Line Manager to discuss matters that may be impacting them in the workplace, to strive for a solution together. We take on your feedback and hope that this will improve our colleague's experience going forwards. Wishing you all the best, Marks and Spencer.
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