Matalan Employee Reviews

Getting time off work was a nightmare and communication was horrible, would be put on shifts I told them I couldn’t make it in for. Expected way too much work to be done in such a short amount of time

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absolutely appealing

Retail Assistant (Current Employee) - Yeovil - 28 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?leaving was the best I liked it What is the most stressful part about working at the company?turning up everyday day to do my shiftWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?toxic,annoying,disturbing and loudWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?depression when I see certain members of staff

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Jobs at Matalan

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Assistant Store Manager

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Dull and Boring

Team Member (Former Employee) - Wakefield, West Yorkshire - 26 November 2023

It's OK if you're desperate for a job, as its relatively easy work. Most staff are miserable and hard to talk to. You are trained briefly on the tills, then not put back on them for months, then when you're asked to go on the till, you can't remember anything and expected to be a pro! There's no staff moral and can be mind numbing when it's quiet.

Pros

Discount

Cons

No proper training

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Meh

General Assistant (Former Employee) - Linwood, Lincolnshire - 25 November 2023

Pay was not good and only get hours if they ask you not you ask them. Management is okay but they expect too much when you get paid £4.62 an hour.

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matalan

GSA (general store assistant) (Current Employee) - Romford, Greater London - 23 November 2023

Matalan is okay for a first job, but honestly, the pay is awful, its minimum wage and most of the time you only get around 12 hours a week (which 12x4 weeks at £10.18 is £488 a week, which is not something you can survive on), I've been here for years and the temporary workers (aged 16/17/18) often get more hours because they earn less an hour.

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Insights into Matalan

Based on 748 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Fair pay for job
Energising work tasks
Sense of belonging

Not a bad job but pay doesn’t reflect company expectations.

General Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - North Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire - 23 November 2023

The overall job isn’t bad as far as retail goes and progression is encouraged. The only downside is that when you do progress, and take on a department for example, your workload more than doubles and while you get the extra hours that comes with that, there’s no extra benefits or pay, so you’re getting the same wage as someone who puts out fitting room rail while you run an entire department alone.

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fun workplace

Customer Assistant (Former Employee) - Darlington, Durham - 22 November 2023

lovely staff , fairly easy to do, would recommend for young people to apply as it’s accommodating to college/ university hours luckily , join if you want a few hours

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Good for weekend work while studying

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Yeovil, Somerset - 22 November 2023

Good place to work on the weekends in between studies. Helped keep the back account topped up while in sixth form a few years back now. Good group of people to work with on the weekend.

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Decent job

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Rotherham, South Yorkshire - 21 November 2023

Typical day consisted of general sales assistant responsibilities that being: maintaining floor or processing payments. Decent bunch of people to work with, management are ok but not the best. It's good as a part time job if you're studying but i wouldn't recommend as a full time employment. The hardest part of the job i'd say is customers being customers or co workers not wanting to fulfil their roles meaning theres more for you to do but the best part i'd say is the extra hours you can pick up and your co worker banter. Met some nice people, made some good memories and had a laugh and developed as a person both personally and professionally!

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ok place for a first job

Customer Assistant (Former Employee) - Peterborough, Cambridgeshire - 21 November 2023

Other than being yelled at by a member of management on my second day because she used a piece of terminology I didn’t understand and I asked her what it meant not a bad place to work. It really depends which managers you get.

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Fun place & motivated

General retail assistant (Former Employee) - Merry Hill, West Midlands - 20 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Everything Staff friendly Helpful What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Nithing at all i enjoyed working here

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the work and the pay are the worst, the people are amazing

Retail Assistant (Former Employee) - Salisbury - 17 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?understanding when you call up to explain why you aren't able to make it What is the most stressful part about working at the company?they pay is very bad, it needs to be risen asapWhat is the work environment and culture like at the company?there are some really nice people working there, I've made 2 mates What is a typical day like for you at the company?walk around and find something to do

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Depends on management

General Assistant (Current Employee) - Kent - 17 November 2023

Working at Matalan isn't too difficult, it's fairly simple to go day by day but it entirely depends on how power-hungry management are. It can really ruin your working experience.

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overworked and horrendous management.

Customer Service Assistant (Former Employee) - Waterlooville, Hampshire - 16 November 2023

the most enjoyable part of the job was the breaks and going home. the only thing i am grateful for, are the friends i made along the way, and the team members i met. the management have picked a great group of people, but have yet to learn the word respect and kindness towards their own team. management do not listen when something is asked of them, and they tell you, you are bad at something rudely without telling you how to improve. they intimidate you and make you feel uncomfortable. so many things were expected of me, for my £5.28 an hour. they chucked new staff members onto the shop floor without proper training so i had to go out of my way to help them find their place. the management do not care about staff wellbeing at all, they play favourites too. while i learnt the job fairly quickly, this was because i had to find my way on my own, with the help of a few caring floor staff members. the company itself is cheap and you get told off for talking even if it’s just asking for help and you have correctly done your job. the management constantly have a go for talking despite the fact it’s normal to have a friendly fun work place, as we are still working to the best of our abilities .

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Awful.

Matalan Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - England - 16 November 2023

Severely underpaid, do more work than older employees who get paid triple my salary. Lack of conversation and social life at work. Isolated work. Not good. Hopeless. No motivation.

Pros

20% discount, going home

Cons

underpaid

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Fun Part Time Job

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Waterlooville, Hampshire - 13 November 2023

I worked here part-time whilst I was studying for my A-Levels at college. They were flexible around my studies, and it was a generally fun and easy place to work. Lots of lovely co-workers and a stress free environment.

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Inclusive

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - London, Greater London - 9 November 2023

The matalan I work in is very inclusive, so if you need to go pray they completely understand. However they pay minimum wage and you often have to do more of what you are asked too. They keep low contract hours so they can pay you less for less holiday hours but you always work over time.

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want to leave this job so bad and never go back

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Scotland - 8 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?nothing, younger employs get treated completely differently What is the most stressful part about working at the company?being expected to do a lot more compared to older people who get 2x more money than u What is the work environment and culture like at the company?unfair, double standards, miserable What is a typical day like for you at the company?boring finger space ing and sizing clothes

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Good workplace with mainly nice staff and a good experience of retail.

General Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Glenrothes, Fife - 5 November 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Definitely the people. Some of the staff I worked with were such lovely people and really made me feel welcome.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?I would say being able to get all work done within a shift. I was often on th tidy up shift so was given a department to tidy eg:kids or women’s clothes.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?The staff are mostly really nice people, there were only a few colleagues I didn’t like. They also had good banter.What is a typical day like for you at the company?Usually I worked the last shift of the day which was from 4-8pm or 5-9pm. We would start by getting told our department and then we would all just work on that department. I used to get given women’s clothes, underwear and pyjamas all the time almost.I really did not like tidying women’s underwear as it was always such a mess and took ages to tidy.

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Overall not the best

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Bracknell, Berkshire - 31 October 2023

This job wasn’t very professional. The managers and other employees were not very nice. Minimum hours and didn’t allow overtime. I don’t remember if there were any staff benefits

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Productive and fun

General Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Beckton - 26 October 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Good team. There is a saying there: the Matalan family. They work as a family and a good team What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Working only 8 hours a week. Other than that, it’s a perfect place What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Understanding and loving with respectWhat is a typical day like for you at the company?Happy day. I always look forward to being there

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