PETCO Reviews

Pros

The people you work with are usually great, everyone likes/has animals so you have common interests.
The benefits are decent, especially full-time and while you don't get "sick days" you receive paid time off that you can use for whatever you need.
Employee discount is 20% on almost everything which comes in handy since if you don't have pets when you start there, you will soon.

Cons

Pay increases in recent years have been cut significantly although company seems to have continued to do well.
Some of the numbers they expect you to reach to get a decent raise are not attainable.
Regional management can play favorites, holding some stores to different standards than others or helping certain managers more than others.
Payroll is always an issue, with more being expected with fewer and fewer hours.
Advancement above store level is limited, there are only so many DM or regional jobs and a move to corporate (San Diego) if something came open, is not possible for everyone

Advice to Senior Management

Get in better touch with the stores and not just the ones down the street from corporate. We are the ones out there trying to do everything asked of us and are what makes the company its money but I know many of us feel very undervalued.

Pros

Obviously the discount, opportunities for people with no college degree to advance to senior management positions.

Cons

Constant payroll cuts, understaffing, frequent policy changes that are not always consistent between districts/regions. Managers encouraged (not openly) to do what it takes to get the numbers in line.

Advice to Senior Management

Please realize that just because a manager puts up good numbers , that does not necessarily make them a good manager. People don't complain because they don't want to get fired.

Pros

Pretty much all associate level employees want to work at Petco because they like animals. This makes it easy to make a connection with most employess. Obviously if this is you, then working with the animals is a plus too. The work can be rewarding as long as you are able to take pride in your work without necessarily having to hear it from someone else.

Cons

My biggest issue is that DM's do not want to promote from within. They would rather roll the dice on someone they know nothing about than give an opportunity to someone who has been working for it for years and has earned at least to be given a chance. I've heard some of the VP's are wanting to change this but haven't seen it applied yet.

This also leads to some store managers being hired that don't really care about animals and aren't very committed to Petco's "Animal's come first philosophy".

Advice to Senior Management

You have people with you already that are good or the company would not be succeeding on many of it's goals. When there is an opportunity, give the people that have earned it a chance.

Pros

You get to work with animals and people who care about them.

Cons

The usual corporate stuff that trickles down to the stores. It's hard to always be asking people for donations when they've just spent a fortune on pet supplies.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to make sure that all the managers in a store are on the same page. We receive too many conflicting instructions.

Pros

People you work with, animals are fun to work with, teamwork, benefits are really good, paid vacation, you learn a lot

Cons

Don't give enough hours for projects, unorganized remodels, pay sometimes in some positions does not compare to similar jobs elsewhere

Advice to Senior Management

Give more hours if you want the store to look more presentable, be more organized and prepare stores more for remodels.

Pros

Animal interaction , and public interaction

Cons

not enough hrs, want full time , low pay

Advice to Senior Management

stay on the same page

Pros

Easy work.
Good employee discount.
Will work with schedule.

Cons

Terrible pay
Stores are disgustingly dirty

Pros

Great co-workers.
Nice discount.
Mostly supportive team.
Pets at work.

Cons

Indecisive senior management.
Promotions to incompetent employees.
Major staff problems overlooked.
People are so dissatisfied that many are leaving without jobs.
Not all corporate staff are bonused.
Low salaries across the board.
Company has relocated some staff to San Antonio with more to come.
Human resources department is slow and often complacent about processing requests, answering questions and addressing problems.
Lack of respect from senior management.
Short staffed and slow to replace exiting staff.
Little room for growth.
No action taken to create a better work environment.
Talent exploited.

Advice to Senior Management

Clean house. Replace incompetent, problematic staff. Listen and address complaints. Don't just talk about it. Keep your talent through better incentives, higher pay and a healthy workplace.

Pros

being able to work with people.

Cons

All the unreasonable expectations set by leadership.

Advice to Senior Management

more flexability

Pros

saving animals lives, and the discount.

Cons

Spending most of your time improving other departments, while your own goes to poop.