Why i work retail
My first ‘official’ job
was retail. I was contracted to 4hours on a Saturday. I ended up working all
weekend, every weekend and would pick up shifts on my short days at college. It
was busy, it was social and it was something I genuinely enjoyed.
Since then I switched from hospo, to sales, and I knew I wanted to go back to retail. The difficulty is, especially in New Zealand is that people rarely hire full time. Which sucks, financially I need full time. Career wise I need full time. But its hard to find.
I was lucky to be hired by a global company here in New Zealand who do offer full time, and they offer full time to build those people up and advance them further in the company. Which is exciting, however the struggle is New Zealands pay.
Since then I switched from hospo, to sales, and I knew I wanted to go back to retail. The difficulty is, especially in New Zealand is that people rarely hire full time. Which sucks, financially I need full time. Career wise I need full time. But its hard to find.
I was lucky to be hired by a global company here in New Zealand who do offer full time, and they offer full time to build those people up and advance them further in the company. Which is exciting, however the struggle is New Zealands pay.
New Zealand is not a cheap country to live in, and living in
the capital city, in the heart of the city is not cheap. Rent is high, petrol
Is high, food is high. But our pays aren’t. There’s a clear miss between
minimum wage and the prices we pay for things. The government is slowly
increasing the minimum but the problem is the cost of living is rising every
year faster than the wages are.
Companys have two options with paying their employees. They can stick to the minimum wage or they can pay the living wage, which is a calculated figure that someone would need to be paid an hour in order to live comfortably. That being paying rent, bills, petrol, and food and still having some money to afford a cinema ticket without worrying.
Companys have two options with paying their employees. They can stick to the minimum wage or they can pay the living wage, which is a calculated figure that someone would need to be paid an hour in order to live comfortably. That being paying rent, bills, petrol, and food and still having some money to afford a cinema ticket without worrying.
The issue society currently has is they don’t value retail
workers worthy of living wage.
As my store manager has always said, retail isn’t rocket
science. We sell clothes. However it’s hard for someone who have never worked
retail to understand what fully goes into it. It’s not just scanning items and
processing payments. Its like a clock turning and as soon as one of those hands
gets stuck the whole clock can fall apart. The difference is, as a customer you
won’t notice when the clock is turning or when it’s stuck unless you went into
the same store every day. The backbone of a retail store are its workers. Do
they not deserve to be able to afford a packet of Tim Tams without worrying if
it will affect their financial situation that week?
Most would say no we don’t. we signed a contract and shouldn’t
be asking for a higher wage. But when I signed my contract a year ago it was
perfect for my life a year ago.
Now things change, my rent is higher, I’m saving more and the idea of buying a house Is exciting but the possibility seems impossible. If we all went by the moto then we’d all be stuck on the first contract we signed. But that would be ridiculous wouldn’t it?
They claim retail isn’t a carreer, but right now this is my career and its many others, there’s management positions, visual merchandisers and as the company I work for expands more theres new positions opening that many wouldn’t have thought of as a career option. But of course because this is retail people will scoff and say its not a career. You just scan clothes.
Now things change, my rent is higher, I’m saving more and the idea of buying a house Is exciting but the possibility seems impossible. If we all went by the moto then we’d all be stuck on the first contract we signed. But that would be ridiculous wouldn’t it?
They claim retail isn’t a carreer, but right now this is my career and its many others, there’s management positions, visual merchandisers and as the company I work for expands more theres new positions opening that many wouldn’t have thought of as a career option. But of course because this is retail people will scoff and say its not a career. You just scan clothes.
The truth is not everyone is cut out for retail. Most is
fast paced, you have to think two steps ahead and you have to put up with a lot
of shit from people who don’t value us as people let alone workers.
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