Pros
I’m going to be completely honest; the biggest Pro about working at Jos. A. Bank would be your co-workers. I have met some of the most wonderful people while working at Jos. A. Bank. Some I still keep in touch with today. The flexibility for part-time employees, getting paid weekly and networking with other professionals (who may be able to help you find a better job) are the other pros.
Cons
Jos. A. Bank has a lack of leadership that systemic throughout the company. Upper management (Corporate, VP’s, DM’s and RM’s) don’t communicate well to store employees unless it’s to threaten you, which is usually faxed. Store managers, are continually threatened with their jobs if any number of metrics cannot be met ei sales, travelers crease percentage, tailor shop revenue, corporate account issuance and customer complaints. The company is geared to make the shareholders the most money it can at the cost of the workers. The pay system is a draw/commission structure for everyone in the store with exception of the manager. In order for an employee to make commission they must first coverer the draw which is around 6,000 dollars a week for full time workers. Some stores will only make 20,000 a week which means it’s almost impossible for workers to make more the base salary, which is usually about eight dollars an hour. Department managers or “third keys” only make about nine dollars an hour and assistant managers are around ten. To add insult to injury every quarter the commission rate drops back down to 5.5 percent. That means if you are in a store that only does 1.3 million dollars it would almost be impossible to make your sales goals for the year and not have your commission rate dropped. I feel like the compensation at Jos. A. Bank is border line abusive. Now let’s talk about the never ending sales. Jos. A. Bank always is having a sale. Most of the Signature suits that retail for $895 or $995 are made in Mexico for around $130. Go ahead, check the label... That’s the only way they can offer a buy one get two free. Customers can’t keep up with the sales and neither can the employees. The worst part for me was the way that Jos. A. Bank treats their employees. You will get a fax saying that the rest of the week they are open early and close late. They don’t tell the customers and the employees are not selling suits at 10 pm. Then if a customer complaints you have to do whatever the customer wants no matter how ridiculous it may seem. I’ve seen customers return suits because they wear out after two years and Jos. A. Bank will do it because of their “Platinum Customer Service”. Everyone is taught to be terrified of a customer complaint.