Is shop work actually worse?

[nightcrawler]

I’m getting increasingly fed up with this job and seriously considering leaving. Although shop work (eg stacking shelves) wouldn’t be my preferred option for my next job, it is nevertheless an option. However, some people have told me that no matter how bad things are in RM shop work is still worse! Yes, I realise shop pay is obviously less than RM, but my mental health in this job has tanked and no longer care about pay.
So, is shop work actually worse than RM? (Ignoring the pay side of things)

[2yearpostie]

Go and stand in your local aldi for 6 hours and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

[ssdd]

Go and stand in your local aldi for 6 hours and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

Go and stand in your local Tesco or Asda and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

[clashcityrocker]

Other supermarkets are available.

[2yearpostie]

Go and stand in your local aldi for 6 hours and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

Go and stand in your local Tesco or Asda and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

( yes other shops with unhappy workers and shoppers are availble)

[Foxel]

It's a lottery, hours, management, pay and company culture. A big factor is how you mentally deal with annoying customers (there will always be some). There is great shop work out there.

[funkflex55]

I've done both customer facing shop work and this job and have to say that this job is much better even with the current pressures. The shifts go much faster and you don't have any near as much shouting customers and you get fit whilst being out in the sun (or rain). As for working in replenishment, you're away from most customer nonsense, the shifts will still go fast and you'll stay quite fit. The pay though is over £3 an hour less but as you mentioned mental health should be a top priority, you don't always recover fully from severe mental problems.

[DGH]

My office has seen several long-serving staff leave to work in supermarkets (mainly Sainsburys), for various reasons. Most of them say it suits them better. Obviously this is not a universal truth. It'd depend to an extent whether your happy working inside and having different shift patterns.

Many years ago I worked in retail, though not in a supermarket, and you had boring days and days that flew by. On the whole it was less demanding than working for RM. Generally I got two consecutive days off and arranging the odd day's holiday (and holiday's generally) was far, far easier than with RM. Overtime was available some weeks (to cover the odd day), and if you showed a bit of flexibility, it worked both ways (unlike today in RM where saying you want a day off on a specific date in return for working a day when the office is short is looked at askance).

[Mcclinton]

Having worked at Sainsbury’s and Royal Mail in the last few years. Sainsbury’s is just as bad if not worse than RM. The pay is poorer, the shifts vary the one’s I worked Night shift crap, twilight shift crap. And if you think you’re being monitored by RM try stacking shelves with a gaffer stood behind you with a piece of paper telling you how long it should take you. In my experience the grass isn’t always greener.

[Ali831]

Supermarket pay, tesco in particular is now £11.04 an hour so not such a big gap anymore, dot com drivers earn even more. Yes there are some nasty customers that you can't as easily escape like now, but the job is straightforward but there are timescales to meet.
The biggest issue would be getting enough hours to live on as minimum contract hours can be as small as 16 per week and no guarantee of more. New staff in tesco tend to be on a flexi contract basis so hours can be all over the place.

[richietns]

I've worked in multiple big shop corporations and straight off the bat they are open 8 till 8 some till later under one roof day in day out forget your bank holiday off there open everyone bar Christmas day and I think Easter Sunday its not as physical but thats why we are meant to be paid more,as for customer complaints well you get it right in the neck and are forced to deal with it thats just part of the retail culture your customer you deal with it,I wouldn't go back you think your monitored now wait until you can't leave the building.

[ssdd]

Go and stand in your local aldi for 6 hours and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

Go and stand in your local Tesco or Asda and see how happy the workers and shoppers are.

( yes other shops with unhappy workers and shoppers are availble)

My point was that Aldi workers are much harder pressed than other supermarket workers imo.

[nightcrawler]

Thanks for all your answers. Fairly mixed response, though more negative than positive. I think shop work would really be a last resort if I ever leave RM.

[baldrick]

Not all shop work is customer facing sales assistants, in supermarkets. It was ten years ago, but after taking VR from RM I worked as a Xmas temp in John Lewis.
I applied and was taken on as a stockroom assistant. It was receiving incoming stock, entering details on to computer, putting it on shelves in stockroom, and moving it up to the shopfloor or customer collection point, when required.

It was more relaxed than RM. The managers were ok. The shifts varied but late shifts finished at 9pm and you were expected to work Saturdays and Sundays on a rota. Pay was less, just over minimum wage, as I was a temp, but the permanent staff were paid better and got annual increments. At that time they also got a six month paid sabbatical after 20 years service - I don't know if that is still the case. They also got a staff reduction in John Lewis and Waitrose, I think it was 25%. There wasn't usually any overtime.

My manager was a nice guy, as were the other managers I met. He told me that former RM employees were regarded as reliable with a good work ethic. I was told I would be kept on in a permanent role after the Xmas period if I wanted to stay, but I didn't want to - I had worked for long enough and wanted to take things easy in retirement.

[SMS1969]

Supermarket working will be over £3 an hour less when we receive our pay rise. I have worked in them and the shift patterns are awful, one day starting at 6, the next day not starting until 3pm and working until nearly midnight and it’s boring.