Costco Employee Reviews

1.0

Produce Associate (Former Employee)

14.12.2022, Job Location: Vista, CA

Union fees are a joke, they don't do anything to help when an employee needs to represent. If a supervisor does not like you, they will write you up and fire you.

3.0

Warehouse Associate (Former Employee)

11.12.2022, Job Location: Monrovia, MD

Nothing at this job is hard, but your schedule and hours will change week to week for no reason other than "the needs of the business" which makes planning anything outside of work nearly impossible. And most of the supervisors/managers are either never around or just straight up incompetent, which can ruin your day if you're unlucky enough to work with a bad supervisor that day. Not to mention you get bounced around all of the time, which can be annoying.

But, the pay isn't bad, and if you can manage to stick it out, the yearly pay raise is nice, and because of the high turnover rate, you can climb the ladder if that's what you want to do.

2.0

Front End Cashier (Former Employee)

7.12.2022, Job Location: Everett, WA

Pay scale got worse- instead of pre-2019 1.50 raises earned every so often, it went down to $1 and takes double time/pay scale steps to top out.

Everything is about helping the front end succeed, never the floor or carts. Run as much as possible with one or two people…doesn’t matter if the place is trashed as long as people are getting through the lines.

Not all new hires are rotating to carts. Not going by seniority for carts yet some senior cashiers whine seniority if an assistant is cashiering. Hard workers get more hard work (night merch, front end,carts) and have to pick up the slack. Lazy get away with being lazy (slow,take time, shop while doing go backs, clock in early am shift and walk off into the warehouse to go talk to someone). Favoritism exists. Single hard workers out for more hard work.

Sups won’t ask everyone to help with carts some single people out; and leave you out there indefinitely. Sups are interested in knowing if you have a garbage bag for carts over how you are doing. No training makes it hard especially holiday season. 3 untrained coworkers at two registers makes it stressful and difficult. Lots of callouts. High turnover.

Zero work life balance with a constantly fluctuating schedule for most.

5.0

Deli Clerk (Former Employee)

1.12.2022, Job Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

I have no negative comments about Costco, there is alot of room for advancement because they post job openings in house first. I worked on the front end, the food quart, and the deli during my employment with Costco. It is definitely a supportive environment, the CEO would come and visit and thank the employees.

The pay is good, you can pick up hours in other departments if you want to. The insurance for part time and full time is amazing, 401k and they match your contributions to your retirement 50%. they give raises every so many hours. You get sick time and vacation, but you have to reach a good number of hours first.

Best company ever, left only because I wanted to express a different career avenue.

2.0

Customer Service Representative (Former Employee)

22.11.2022, Job Location: Oklahoma City, OK

The job itself is fulfilling and easy to make your day go by fast. But stop right there…in my opinion Costco self sabotages any good that could come from the job. Instead of giving everyone a schedule to keep for a certain amount of weeks, they rather put you on a 24/48 hour notice it could change.

They DO NOT work with your schedule, whatsoever. Their employee agreement is beyond overkill that I can only imagine their turnover rate. You are surrounded by supervisors that don’t even know how to do the very same job you are trying to do. They overload the “OPS Sup” to where you’re lucky to get a 30 min one in one. You’re to be reviewed at 30, 60 (I believe), and 90 days. I got my 30 day review and it was explained in less than 5 minutes. I never received my 90 day review.

The management is unfortunately micro managing you on everything but your actual skills or lack there of. HR doesn’t exist in the building, and they do. not. care. about. retaliation.

The job position itself has the ability to have long term employees but unfortunately what takes place at the OKC Service Center is outdated. Extremely hostile work environment.

1.0

Major Sales Associate (Former Employee)

16.11.2022, Job Location: Roseburg, OR

You will be expected to lift very heavy things, sometimes alone. My back was hurt helping someone with a 600 lbs gun safe the were expecting 2 people to load by themselves. They let me get hose by workers come, which said it was early onset arthritis ( I was 35 and healthy).

1.0

Front End AsSeasonal Cashier (Current Employee)

9.11.2022, Job Location: Corona, CA

Work load is overwhelming especially in the Cashier! The pay seems high but after working for sometime, I realized it feels like you worked double by the amount of work you have poured in. So you get paid for the workload equivalent to 2 people.

Seniority is evident so you will notice the seniors are assigned to a more relaxed post while the seasonal employees are being pushed to the limit. You will be pulled out right away to do another task as soon as the counter becomes vacant even for just 10 seconds. In short, they want you to keep going and going. The only time you would get to have some rest is during your break.

They promote people from within. So if you plan to advance in the company, stay for as long as you can coz you need to work your way up. Retention rate is high so I guess most of the employees are happy.

3.0

Front End Employee (Former Employee)

5.11.2022, Job Location: Spokane, WA

Costco Wholesale's purpose is to make money. Expect no support from management or the members who shop here.

Communication from management/between departments is scarce, very little effort is made to streamline communication and keep employees "in-the-know". This company tends to hype fixate on menial things, while ignoring larger problems that require effort or money. If the frontline employees are experiencing an issue, and both management and members are unaffected by it, there is very little chance that said issue will ever get the attention it needs.

Nice words are easy to say, but when it comes down to it, nice words may be all you get from this company.

3.0

Member Service Specialist (Former Employee)

1.11.2022, Job Location: Wilsonville, OR

First of all... the wicked time card punch is obsolete and intentionally tricky. You cannot clock in more than 1 minute early, but EVERYONE has fallen into the trap of being written up for tardiness, or mistakes on clocking in!!! They use this against you!

If you have no family, no life, no concern for work life balance, and NO is not even in your vocabulary then... you might enjoy working at Costco. If you enjoy working in a boot camp environment, love to work in the bakery at 3am, or the gas station during hail storms at 10pm, or cleaning grease , closing every single night shift, working EVERY weekend, with no flexibility you might like Costco.

Plus you need to wear a mask, while literally running, and working out, while offering pleasant customer service as you drip sweat on their food while boxing the customers order. Go for it. They do pay OT on Sunday.

1.0

Gas Station Attendant (Current Employee)

1.11.2022, Job Location: Wayne, NJ

The company provides great benefits which are hard to complain about, but at the end of the day management is poor and there is no work/life balance. When you are a Costco employee your life is Costco and for many people that just simply is not something that they can accept.

1.0

Merchandising Associate (Former Employee)

31.10.2022, Job Location: Sheridan, CO

Unwilling to work with you on your schedule. If you need specific days off, you'll need to wait a couple years until you have seniority over other employees. Honestly I was looking for something for maybe a year or 2 and I'm not going to be motivated if my days off are Tues, Sat or Sunday, Thurs.

Managers throw inexperienced and unmotivated supervisors into specific dept and only make it worse. Managers are all about moving up in the company and could care less about anyone under them. Would not recommend it

5.0

Front End and Security (Former Employee)

30.10.2022, Job Location: Louisville, KY

What is the best part of working at the company?
A real team environment where I felt appreciated and respected. Almost everyone there liked the company and their job.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It is non-stop from Friday through Monday with many customers, but you quickly get used to the pace.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It's a real team environment.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get right to work. Stay busy. Enjoy the customers and coworkers. Go home satisfied that you have done your best.

2.0

Stocker (Former Employee)

27.10.2022, Job Location: North Brunswick, NJ

What is the best part of working at the company?
The Sunday pay but they overwork you

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They over work you and are strict

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
They have high expectations.. they dont care much for employees but pretend to.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful

3.0

Service Clerk (Current Employee)

26.10.2022, Job Location: Ajax, On

There is no training so that can make things overwhelming. They used to have a new hire buddy system but stopped that due to labour cuts.
The pay is good for a starting role and they have awesome benefits.

Scheduling can be hectic as they change them almost daily, where you can't make future plans or appointments.

There is quite a lot of 'cliques' amongst the staff and management, but I can say it was still a pleasant atmosphere to work around.

Much can be expected of new staff with no training and you will be expected to also explain why you didn't know how to do something. Stronger workers get taken advantage of to cover the full time staff and slower paced employees.

You get a free membership when recruited. They host Social events for the staff.

You can wear your own clothes which offered a high level of comfort.

5.0

Maintenance Technician (Former Employee)

23.10.2022, Job Location: Anchorage, AK

I love Costco I love being part of the Costco family.

My problems at Costco began whenever I transferred from Anchorage Alaska to Plano Texas. I did not realize it the market share of the store that I was transferred to was much smarter than the store in Anchorage. Therefore I had my hours cut from approximately 45 hours a week in Anchorage to about 25 hours a week in Plano Texas

2.0

Front End Assistant (Current Employee)

10.10.2022, Job Location: Bunker Hill Village, TX

This is probably the most stressful place I’ve ever worked. Once you’ve passed your 90 days, it’s up to you to READ THAT HANDBOOK FROM FRONT TO BACK. If you don’t, you’re subject to get treated any kind of way. If you’re a student, stay on their neck about your schedule. Get familiar with the corporate number, because some of us end up having to call corporate because nothing gets done at the warehouse level. Do not buddy up to any of the managers or supervisors. Period. If you have ANYTHING in your file, clear it up completely. Clock in on time, avoid missed swipes, and tardies as much as you can. Rack up personal and vacation time and request them as soon as possible.

Do not let members walk all over you. Keep record of EVERYTHING. Day, time, and instance, in the event management feels like they want to discipline you for something that happened months ago. If your HR/payroll clerk is even the slightest bit incompetent, stay in your GM’s ear, or call corporate. Be CLEAR and CONCISE, when you need to call off, and get unpaid sick time APPROVED if you can, which usually means showing up and then talking to management, then getting approved to leave. Otherwise they will hit you with CNs to the point you lose your job.

The ONLY thing keeping me here is the pay. There’s other jobs out here that you’d have to work decades for just to get the pay they give us. It’s caused me to want to finish my masters/Phd, because if I leave now I’ll still be making less than I make at Costco, having been here for 4 years. You’ll top out quickly if your hours are in the mid 30’s range, and I’m pretty sure it’s made like that to keep you there.

If you work in the warehouse, and plan to be there for a while, make use of the insurance they give you. Foot, knee, lower back, and hip pain is common since you stand constantly on solid concrete. Found it pathetic that management gets to sit on their butts all day, while we have to stand to the point of exhaustion every day. So again, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR INSURANCE. You get paid short and long term disability leave.

If you have a GM in your warehouse that does not care about you, go over them. Again, stay contacting corporate.

Whatever happiness you manage to find working for Costco, cling to it. Know the handbook, make 1-2 close friends, and keep it moving. I work in Texas, and by and large, they do not care about us, members are cunning, spoiled, disrespectful, and one personality defect away from straight up tyrannical. Covid brought out the worst in them, and we’re STILL dealing with it. Management is a joke. Way too many chiefs pretending to be Indians.

5.0

AM STOCKER at Costco Stocker (Current Employee)

7.10.2022, Job Location: Springfield, MO

As an AM “merchant” or “stocker”, your shifts are early (2am-5am), but you don’t work more than 8hrs a day usually. The work is physically demanding and will make every part of your body hurt, but you’ll also see a physical difference after a while.

All employees are hired Part-Time, you’ll get a minimum of 25hrs a week.

There is also a 90 day probationary period that Costco takes very seriously. - Meaning, an employee can be terminated by any manager for any reason within 90 days, usually because: (includes but is not limited to) the employee consistently has a poor attitude, is not dependable, or not showing up to work on time/ calling out a lot.

Costco provided a statistic that 1/4 of applicants get hired, and less than half of those applicants will pass the 90 day probationary period.

But once you’re in, you’re in!:
- Amazing benefits
- Wonderful co-workers
- Countless opportunities for advancement
- Not to mention regular automatic raises based on the amount of hours you work!

3.0

Cashier Assistant (Former Employee)

6.10.2022, Job Location: Huntington Beach, CA

There were a lot of things that made Costco a place that I'm glad I got out of and that I never want to work at again. I'm somewhat biased, I was in food court, so I was working harder than some of the people in the other departments. That being said, most people at costco are little bullies when it comes to actually working.

I had many jobs before costco, so I know what it's like to be treated like nothing by the people you work for. I know what it's like to have to work to keep your job. Costco goes the complete opposite direction, they make the effort to be accommodating as an employer, but from what I've seen that has a negative effect.

You end up having a lot of people who got the job because they had a family member or friend already inside, never worked anywhere else, and therefore are used to getting their life sucked by management. Nowhere in my warehouse was this more prevalent then in front end(cashiers), they'd strict about every little thing.

4.0

Cashier Assistant (Current Employee)

5.10.2022, Job Location: Pompano Beach, FL

Working at any Costco location as a new hire is going to be extremely stressful. There is a lot of competition to stay after a seasonal period, or even after your 90 days. Culture will definitely vary from warehouse to warehouse. Some locations will be more lenient on some policies (needing a collar on shirts, choosing to counsel vs being written up).

Training is always left to the employees, not the management. There is no hand holding and sit down training out side of the required CostcoU videos. You will be put on the spot and have fellow employees show you how to work. A lot of the work is trial by fire, and you have to be able to navigate that while management forms and opinion of you. When favorable, you find yourself able to talk freely and comfortably. When unfavorable, you are silently blocked and not taken seriously. If you intend to land a job at Costco, at any location, make sure that you start off strong and make a very positive impression in your first year or so.

On top of all of that, this is a retail environment. The stresses of daily interaction with the public on top of a face paced environment can be hard to manage if you're not ready.

1.0

Cashier Assistant (Former Employee)

29.9.2022, Job Location: Illinois

Costco likes to hide behind the fact they pay their employees decently, when in reality all of their employees are miserable. Every day clocking in you have no idea what department they'll throw you in/how many departments you'll be in that day.

They encourage employees to cross train to learn any job in the warehouse so it's easier to move up in the company and to be more of an asset, then exploit and overwork them. There's very little flexibility in schedules, for full time and part time (even when it comes to a second job, children, or school).

The managers only care about the opinion or voice of a few favored employees, it's very much like high school with cliques, gossip and all. If you weren't favored by managers and tried to bring an issue to their attention, they would dismiss it entirely. The only enjoyable part of the job was clocking out.

Also their health insurance sucks.

2.0

E-Commerce Associate (Current Employee)

5.9.2022, Job Location: Oklahoma City, OK

You have to be extremely flexible, you can’t request days off or a day that you are not available. Even if you have school you have to be flexible for them. They only hire part time first before getting full time but even as part time you work about 38 hits, never has changed or actually gotten part time hours. They will tell you it will lower once it slows but that is a lie.

My location hired 90+ and my schedule still was working random full time h hours even up to 6 days. Feels like there is no work and life balance. If you are looking for part time this is not the job for you. When you interview they will tell you stuff that is the opposite of what you will be schedule as I thought I just had to be flexible but it won’t be a full time job. Can’t give away shifts or swap because as a part time employee you don’t get that benefit unless you call in but you can get written up.

You also can’t request to have your hours lower because they claim you were told you had to be flexible.