Michaels Arts & Crafts Employee Reviews for Anonymous Employee

"I’ve worked for Michaels for 15 years, starting as a cashier, & working my way up into management. It used to be a great place to work. If you are thinking of working for Michaels, run as far away as you possibly can, and don’t look back. The company is sinking fast. Hours have been reduced to the point that there’s never more than 3 people in the store. Part-time team members MIGHT get one 4-hour shift a week these days. There is conflicting direction sent from the support center to the stores constantly, and stores are expected to sort it all out. No program or technology that is rolled out works correctly. We can’t even get a truck volume report in a timely manner, much less ANY knowledge of what is actually going to be on that truck. Corporations consistently waste money on fixtures that don’t work and signage that is misprinted or no longer relevant. HR is the biggest joke I’ve ever encountered. They honestly believe that 50 cents above minimum wage is an acceptable rate to hire a quality hourly manager. They introduced an attendance policy to hold people accountable, yet when there is an attendance issue their response is “What can we do to accommodate them?” The CEO is completely out of touch with reality in the stores. He thinks the company is in the best shape it’s been in a long time, yet long-time employees are leaving in droves. I can’t imagine being a new store manager in this company right now and trying to make sense of all the absolute nonsense. The only good things at the moment are my team (except I’m losing them rapidly to no hours), and my direct boss, who is amazing."

"Let me start off by saying, the modules they give you during onboarding are very dumb. They give you basic info, but it’s hard to retain in such a short time.. but the company expects you to have it memorized or something. The policies they have in place, are outrageous. Unless your state specifically says so, if you put your two weeks in, they don’t need to pay out your earned vacation time, or your sick time. I’m finding out that it’s not just my location in NY that’s toxic, it’s the company all throughout. I think it’s almost a michaels company signature to have a lazy, miserable Store Manager. Do as they say, not as they do! The company only gives each store 4 dollars to give their employees raises. You get one raise a year, and they barely bump you up to minimum wage. As a full time CEM who basically does it all, I made the same amount as seasonal cashiers that came in this year. When I mentioned my concerns to my store manager she saw no issue with it; and ignored it. Any issues that go on in the store, the CEM usually takes care of it… the store manager told me that the ASM and SM are the back up back ups, meaning they shouldn’t be bothered at all throughout the day. It’s frustrating because you have passionate workers that want to work, make money, and thrive but the company doesn’t care.. they don’t let you. As a full time manager, you get one 45 minute lunch.. and you’re expected to be on your feet the rest of the time, no 15 minute breaks or anything. They cut everyone’s holiday salary for employee appreciation. They give you a 40% off all regular price items for one week to show their appreciate to employees. OSA? Nahh. If your sewers are over flowing and coming through the drains in the floor.. you’re not allowed to use the restroom, but you have to work all day and walk to the nearest store that has an available restroom. There’s so much more.. but I’m running out of room"

"The company does not value its employees. I have been a hard-working, dedicated employee with Michaels for over 10 years and still make minimum wage. When you have to fight for a raise after years of service it's time to go."

"I worked for different michaels throughout my 5 years in the company and let's just say no matter how hard you work it was never enough. Always understaffed they expected you to do work of 5 people. Raises were a joke . The new people that were entering the company were making more than I was . Had a assistant manager that would micro manage and a store manager that would always had an excuse as to why she would either not come or come in late. The last 3 years I work for the company was horrible due to the hostile work place from the managers . Do yourself a favor and only work there til you find another job with better pay ."

"So, in MY experience at the store as a remodel associate to the framer to the manager, hands down one of THE worst companies I have ever had the displeasure of working for. The company refused to give us new fixtures despite the safety hazards (a customer was then injured because corporate didn't care). There was hardly any training, and the people training you, barely had training. We were instructed to lie about orders and mark it as though we had the item, and then go back in the system to say the customer canceled, just to avoid low numbers, which caused ALOT of angry customers. The framing department is an absolute joke where orders are consistently neglected and left in a cubby for weeks, again, causing a stir in customers. A manager was fired because some new cashier didn't know where to put refund cards, and the manager accidentally loaded her return on a previously used card because of a cashier mistake, so the company claimed it was theft and demanded she repays the company $30 even though none of those things was her fault and she spent almost every paycheck at the store to keep our sales up. I quit because the District Manager told me to "stay in my lane" because I was forced to juggle everything in the store with 0 training, and when I brought it up, training was set for me in another state that I couldn't get to and no one had told me about it, so THAT manager got nasty with me for not contacting them about it... but again, no one had told me it had been set up."

"Great company to work for. Benefits and pay are excellent. Most managers are great to work under."

"Overall a good company, there have been quite a few changes over the past few years that have caused people to be advanced into positions that they are not qualified to handle resulting in some decisions that are not as good for the team members or the company as a whole. Overall time will correct these problems and the company is a good place to work. I have many fond memories from my time at Michaels, I really loved the emphasis that the company placed on holidays and getting into the spirit of the festivities associated with them."

"It is a typical retail store where you are understaffed, underpaid and overworked."

"Fun work environment. Hourly employees are paid rather poorly. They have a lot of perks in the company. They have tons of tank building events and tons of luncheons and food."

"Worked at Michaels nearly 4 years and find it's a great company to work for with work/life balance. Compensation is excellent."