L.L. Bean Employee Reviews about "low pay"

Pros

Nice management. Flexible scheduling. Good discounts. Managers work with you to help educate you on products. Management often creates fun activities/potlucks in break room to bring fun into the day

Cons

Low pay, hours can be 40/week during holiday rush and 4/week during slow seasons. Customer base tends to be rude

Pros

management, lots of hours if you do well, co-workers, communication, training, flexible scheduling available

Cons

retail?, low pay, inconsistent hours may be a problem for some

Pros

The employee discount isn't too bad.

Cons

Low pay, few hours, few perks, demanding

Pros

employee discount ( if I could afford to by anything being a low wage earner and all....), employee store (the ONLY TRUE benefit at LL Bean that I saw. Fellow employees were all really nice. Made the daily grind bearable.

Cons

Management is out of touch with the low morale of those not in middle management. Poor communication in middle management. I was told I would be able to pick up hours to make it to close to 40, THAT WAS A BOLD FACE LIE. Average hours scheduled were 26/ week. Software used to clock in, offer up shifts, or "pick up shifts" (DayForce) is horrendous. Minimal to no career advancement or succession planning. Process to get time for Dr. Appointments, etc. is a joke. ROUTINE call outs happen all of the time. SUPERVISORS TELL YOU, if you want time off, just call out. LOW PAY for a company making 1.6 billion in 2018 Reported by Benzinga: For the fiscal year ending February 24, 2019, L.L.Bean reported annual net revenue of $1.6 billion, up 1% over 2017.Mar 15, 2019) General Management has forgotten what it's like to be a sales agent and it trickles down to middle management, . Heard many times to fellow employees, "Put on your "Retail" stride." "pick up the pace." "don't lean." "take your hands out of your pockets." (You should remove the photos in your employee dress code booklet with half of the employees with their hands in their pockets) And a "POM Hat" instead of a bonus..... thanks.... but no thanks.... I know you can pay your bills with the LL Bean Master Card ( at a crazy interest rate....), but have you ever tried to pay them with a POM hat?.... For the longest time, I didn't know who I reported to. My biggest take away, "Sell the LL BEAN CARD!!!!" Constantly telling "Guides" to "sell the LL Bean Master card" got old very quickly. Some of the older people, and very young people who would sign up for the credit card to get a discount on their first purchase SHOULD NOT BE GETTING A CHARGE CARD IMHO....

Pros

Products and brand philosophy are sound.

Cons

f the store I worked in is any indication of the company’s view of its employees, LL Bean is in big trouble. Whether you’re full time, part time or seasonal, you are assumed to be a third-class, expendable entity. You’re treated in a curt, dismissive manner by most of the managers — there are too many "chiefs" (who have blatantly little real business experience and who regularly give conflicting orders) constantly scanning for any perceived "slacking off”; you are not to be seen speaking, even briefly, with your coworkers. There is constant fault-finding — no matter how fast and efficiently you work, or how well you sell. Pay is sub-par but you are constantly pushed to drive more sales (as though most sales staff aren't giving it their best already) and a culture of competition with other stores is emphasized with incessant announcements over the (cheap, faulty) headsets on how your store is stacking up at any particular hour with others in the region (We're “behind” $1000? Let me henpeck this customer harder). The truth is, manager bonuses are what motivate them; the company did away with employee bonuses. Culture of fear and intimidation results in morale being dismally low, to the point that coworkers retreat into their own private silos. Combined with the typical retail ever-shifting last-minute weekly schedule assignments and low pay, people either feel trapped or are actively looking for other employment and biding their time. You can be given more responsibility, but that responsibility does not garner more pay or respect, only more pressure — and you will still be treated poorly. It can best be described as a warden-inmate environment, with worse hours. In fairness, according to veterans, the problems only became really untenable in 2017 with the hiring of a new lead manager.

Pros

nice discount on work clothes and good discount on other items. Outdoor Discovery Classes for free if schedule permits. Holiday pay for part time workers. Co-workers and customers are generally nice people.

Cons

low pay, no payroll budget. Most of the time you are the only one scheduled for one or two areas of the store. Very rare to get scheduled enough hours. Very bureaucratic and computer systems are clunky. Poor attitude or burn out from some of the store leaders.