22 Upsetting Behind-The-Scenes Secrets Of GameStop
Much like the games GameStop stocks, GameStop employee stories range from hilarious to terrifying. Tales of trashy GameStop customers litter message boards across the Interweb, but some of the best gossip comes from employees who know the company's quirks and secrets. Anyone who's worked a retail job knows it's exhausting, but GameStop actually cracked the list of Top 10 Worst Places to Work, so it's no surprise some less than stellar stuff occurs behind those glass doors. Employees are overworked and underpaid, drained of the manna they try so hard to sell. They're constantly pushed to hit sales marks, move product, and get pre-orders, often with no bathroom breaks.
Even if it's run by people more apathetic and detached than the Master Hand, GameStop still provides some perks for its employees and customers to take advantage of. Geeks like GameStop too, for some reasons more obvious than others. Where else can you sell back old Rock Band drum kits and copies of Madden 2004? So here's the GameStop scoop, from the good to the bad to the acne-covered.
They Treat Women Like A Commodity
From GS_Ex_employee:
"Women get better performance numbers. Simple as that. I hired based on what I thought a good employee was; sure enough I had a great mix of all races, ages, and both genders.
Of the two females I had, one was a true gamer and a bit socially awkward. The other, a really hard worker when it came to task-work but not the most knowledgeable. Not saying the gamer was less attractive than the other, but the other knew how to use it to produce numbers.
Management constantly wanted me to move the gamer out."
Even The Customers Are Rude To Female Employees
From GameStopGirl:
"Customers definitely treat the male and female employees differently. Lots of people did not want to speak to female employees, either because they were nervous or because they felt like as girls, we wouldn't assist them as well as a male employee. I also usually had to push good games a lot harder to convince people they were actually good."
They Don't Care About Gamers, They Care About Numbers
From GS_Ex_employee:
"You could be the most knowledgeable, charismatic, prompt employee... but if your numbers weren't up to snuff, you would be encouraged to set goals and cut hours until you quit or got better. Early on management sincerely wanted people to succeed. The new management would try and convince me otherwise."
Management Is Living Below The Poverty Line
From GS_Ex_employee:
"I started at 28K-a-year. I was located in the southeast. It was at 33K when I quit.
(I worked) Anywhere between the required 44 to 60 a week. You try not to do the math and see where you are hourly; it will only hurt your soul."
They Force The Staff To Push Pre-orders
From gamestop_ama:
"Reserves were the death of me! The expectation went from 15% to 20% to 30% to some obscene unattainable percentage that Jesus himself couldn't reach."
If You Don't Get Pre-Orders, You Don't Get Hours
From gamestop_ama:
"I did witness some employees being dishonest about pre-orders in order to secure one. We had to be extremely pushy to get them (contrary to what district managers and other higher-ups who have never worked in the store thought) because, if we didn't, your hours got cut."