Waitrose reviews

3.8

68% would recommend to a friend

(8,763 total reviews)
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Jason Tarry

73% approve of CEO

48% positive business outlook

Waitrose has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 8,763 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Waitrose employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Commerce de détail et de gros industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

9K reviews
2.0
Dec 9, 2015

Eroding values.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people. Excellent benefits. Competitive salary - however the bonus, rather than being treated as such, is often used as a reason to keep the base wage low. Fantastic history. Skilled board of Directors. - let down severely by local and middle management.

Cons

Dishonest management. Knowingly violates food safety regulations. A "hide the issue rather than resolve it" culture. Knowingly breaks the law regarding commitments made on their website. Partners raising concerns will frequently have their jobs threatened. The business flagrantly contradicts or ignores commitments it makes to it's Partners. Throws money at ill conceived projects without proper research. Or, worse still, ignores available information and invests in projects which will clearly fail. Managers who feel it is acceptable to exploit and even physically assault sub contractors such as cleaners because they know that the sub contractors are unable to defend their rights. Very questionable hiring practices - known thieves placed in to senior management roles, friends of personnel managers put in to positions for which they have no qualifications etc.

2.0
Oct 13, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You get great benefits, you get the bonus. Like if u can think it there is a discount, holidays, health care, food, meals out, national forest, days out its great and the pay isn't terrable

Cons

No care for ur general well being. If u ever call in sick u are chastised. They would rather have u in vomiting on the floor. You will constantly be belittled and spoken down too. Nevermind constant abuse and bull rubbish fed to you from the managers. There isn't really any development within the store the managers have no time for this. This all changed due to a change in store manager note it all depends on ur manager.

1.0
May 7, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Easy work Good discount on John Lewis products Easy to get overtime

Cons

Having worked at John Lewis during sixth form, I absolutely adored the Partnership and thought they treated their staff incredibly well. However, when I moved to Brighton to study at University I got a job at the local Waitrose, the treatment of staff was completely different. I, and many others, were hired as Christmas temps for 3 months, then our contracts were extended until April 25th. A couple of weeks before this date, we were told that as of this date our 'hours would not exist anymore' and that we had to reapply for new hours if we wanted to keep our jobs. This seemed completely stupid as there was always things that needed to be done in store so staff were always needed. Also, some of the younger employees weren't even told about this so didn't even know their last shift was their last shift! WAITROSE IS NOT A GOOD PLACE FOR STUDENTS TO WORK: a few years ago I knew a few friends who worked at one Waitrose store and were transferred to one nearer home during the holidays: a good idea because all stores need people to cover extra hours during school holidays. When I went to start looking for a transfer home for the Summer, I was not helped by my manager at all (who didn't even know my name after 6 months working there...). I had to phone personnel to ask how to go about it. Eventually, I got an interview at a store in my hometown, however it was with other external candidates who had never worked at Waitrose before- and then I didn't get the job! Seems absolutely ridiculous as they would have saved money as I didn't need any uniform or training and could have started covering lots of hours right away. Management never told us that we had to fill in our holiday forms before a certain date, or even gave us a holiday form in the first place, so we were allocated random days throughout the year and it was near impossible to change these. I do hear better things about other Waitrose stores, but from my personal experience I think the company treats their employees in an awful manner.

Viewing 37 - 39 of 8,763 Reviews

Glassdoor has 9,126 Waitrose reviews submitted anonymously by Waitrose employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Waitrose is right for you.