Pros
Great team, supportive, flexible with hours, etc. This isn't always the case, i got lucky and found a good store with good team.
Cons
The major flaw with Bunnings is upper management, and wage budgets. Wages are set as a percentage of sales, so when it's quiet, there are less people on the floor. Team are constantly short staffed, sick leave is high due to the stress. Team are expected to help out in other areas they're not skilled in. Customers get upset due to lack of team on floor. Head office have instigated automatic ordering systems that get it wrong and deliver too much or too little on a regular basis. You're expected to unpack pallets of stock, and serve customers, and cover in other areas, all at the same time. Stress is high and i observed many of my team either leaving having sick leave, in tears, etc. Many people i work with have issues with anxiety, many report this goes away when they're on leave. The retail space is stressful, dealing with over 100 customers a day is stressful, and customers can be rude, aggressive, and downright nasty and vengeful. This issue has gotten so bad the SDA have launched a marketing campaign demonstrating that abuse towards staff isn't tolerated. However these posters aren't shown in public, only in the tea-room which seems to defeat the purpose. Customers will regularly steal items, on a daily basis i'm writing off theft items. Have to pick up customers trash, half eaten sausages, napkins thrown on the ground and drink containers left on the shelves. In short, working with the public is a nightmare and you don't see how horrible society can be until you work in retail. It's not a healthy career for anyone, it will take away from your sanity, and you need to be thick skinned to survive. For $24 an hour, it's simply not worth it, not by a long shot. Burnout is high. Team morale is low.
