Michaels reviews

3.1

44% would recommend to a friend

(9,677 total reviews)

David Boone

36% approve of CEO

36% positive business outlook

Michaels has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 9,677 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Michaels employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

10K reviews
1.0
May 4, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-The selection of merchandise over the years have gotten much better and the buyers seem to be keeping up with the trends. -Even as a department manager, it's easy to get requested days off

Cons

I have been working for Michaels as a department manager for 10 years. I have tried to promote numerous times and have been told I do not have enough management experience. What? Apparently Michaels is looking for "Big Box" retail managers. So according to that, I would have to quit Michaels, go to a big box retailer get the experience and quit there to go back to Michaels to promote to an assistant manager. And that's assuming that assistant managers will be around then. Because within the next year or so they will be eliminating that position, which really screws over any department manager that wants to promote. It also demotes the hundreds if not thousand assistant managers out there with the company. Michaels over the last year or 2 is wanting us to concentrate on customer service above all else, which is great , but they do not give enough hours to run the stores. Which results in poor customer service. I always hear and see people complaining about retail employees and their experience with shopping retail and I think they just need to realize that with the economy the way it is, it's hitting us retail stores as well. We don't want you guys to be unhappy and not be able to find any help on the floors or having to stand in a crazy long line at the registers. But CORPORATE is the one cutting our hours and expecting us to run the stores this way. We are just doing what we can and being pulled in a million different directions for a really crappy pay. Michaels does not give the payroll or the resources to train new employees. So if you go to work for the company, hopefully you are a quick learner, because it is sink or swim for you. They have you watch some outdated videos and maybe have an employee run your through how to do something once and thats about it. It's not that we dont want to train you, it's that upper management and corporate have loaded our plates full that if we don't get our things done we get in trouble. Michaels eliminated the class program with the exception of Wilton Cake Decorating a few years ago, which was very stupid to do for a craft store. They have now decided to bring it back, but they don't give us the resources to actually get it organized and promote it. I don't know how many times I have felt completely stupid talking to a customer interested in taking classes because I don't know, nor can I find any information on the classes. These are just a few of the cons. I know after 10 years of working there where about 5 of those years have been very unhappy, I could write more.

2.0
May 1, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I love art and have years of experience with the products sold at the store. I enjoyed helping the customers. I enjoyed working retail in a field I was familiar with and passionate about. I really enjoyed doing the demos. After I applied I got a call 24 hours later for an interview. Impressive compared to other places I've applied for. I felt much better once I was no longer working here. I was disappointed by how my store was run.

Cons

Um, so they never really trained me. I had to basically figure out things myself or ask my co-workers. They would say they were going to train me for cashier for months. Co-workers has same experience. What made me dislike my job was the majority of my co-workers and management. Most co-workers had little to no knowledge of the products we sold- they had been working there YEARS before I was hired. My co-workers simply hated helping ANY customers (not just the difficult ones). So, I often got the heat from frustrated customers who found me after because my co-workers blew the customer off. Overall, most co-workers (including those in higher positions) were difficult to work with, lazy, and consistently went missing on "smoke breaks". Management knew these employees were difficult (I didn't even submit a complaint). They found it funny how [person] wouldn't do her job or [person] would go missing for an hour from their post. Management's solution to their attitude would be to have these employees work in the back or stocking on the floor. Meanwhile I was then moved to register for the remainder of my employment because the others received complaints from customers for being rude. The favoritism of the male employees was ridiculous. Some of the boys (despite many no-shows) were never let go. I worked with several girls who gave excellent customer service, but were let-go. I had an especially creepy male co-worker and management did nothing about him. Misogynistic too, acted as if the girls couldn't handle the heavy-lifting of deliveries, yet always had girls doing the truck with the boys. It's minimum wage, but that's expected. Little to no opportunity for pay increase here. Store is understaffed. Need to hire more people to work each shift. Too much gossip in the workplace. Too much fighting and drama- both employees and management. There's a point system and you get infractions for everything. It's unavoidable. "Report-cards" are basically another term for more infractions and are also unavoidable. Working there was Catch-22. FES would tell me to do one thing, despite it being against store policy (ex. coupons) then I'd have a notice on my punch card to sign a "report card". Good work went unnoticed. I came in early for shifts, stayed late. Help open and close. Unloaded the truck, stocked, swept, cashiered, helped customers. All the good co-workers quit and found other work because they couldn't deal with the frustration any more. Also they would make staff sign forms (ex. new policies) without reading the new packet.

2.0
Apr 27, 2011

Low pay, high expectations

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Being paid a working wage for the location and skills

Cons

loss prevention techniques gives a feel of already being accused and always having to prove your honesty. A form of management with a "high school" Principal feel to it.

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