Macy’s the US-wide chain of stores which retails clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, cosmetics and houseware, was founded in New York City in 1858 by Rowland Macy. The company logo, a red star, reflects a tattoo its founder acquired during his previous employment – as a young sailor on a whaling ship out of Nantucket. Having passed through several mergers, Macy’s is now part of the Federated Department Stores conglomerate.
Macy’s turnover in 2009 was approximately $25bn and its last published operating profit was just under $1bn (working out at about 3.5%). It employs well over 150,000 people in 800 stores and their chain of 300 eSpot ZoomShops which sells electronic gadgets. All of Macy’s stores are located in the US.
The company website can be found here.
To find out about recruitment, click on Macys JOBS which is in red text on the bottom right hand side of the screen. This takes you to the jobs page.
This contains several drop-downs. The possible employment categories are:
- Accounting
- Administration
- College Executive Development Programs
- College Internships
- Corporate Communications and External Affairs
- Creative
- Credit Services/Collections
- Event Planning/Special Events
- Facilities Management
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Internal Audit
- Internet Technology (IT)
- Legal
- Logistics
- Loss Prevention
- macys.com
- Marketing
- Merchandising & Planning
- Private Brand
- Purchasing
- Quality Assurance
- Research/Development
- Restaurant/Food Service
- Risk Management
- Salons/Spas
- Store Planning, Construction and Design
- Store Sales and Operations
- Store Support
- Travel
Choosing ‘Store Support’ and not selecting ‘State’ goes to a results page which returned 141 jobs. It also provides a new format search screen which is a bit confusing.
Deselecting job type and selecting US but no state, returns 1711 jobs which is how many it might be assumed Macy’s are currently offering.
Using the facility to sort by date suggests that nearly 200 of these jobs were posted over 3 months ago. The oldest job was 14 months old. Is this vacancy really still open? If so, why?
Quite a few of the jobs were uploaded well over 6 months ago, however over 100 were less than 3 days old thus confirming that the site is regularly updated.
I chose the most recent full-time job; Retail Cosmetic Sales – Counter Manager in Roseville Minnesota. This produced what was clearly (and unsurprisingly) a standardized job description but at least it did refer in part to cosmetics with its ‘Do you have an eye for color?’ rhetorical question.
Unfortunately there was no salary given; just a promise (probably on every job advert page) that Macy’s offer ‘Industry competitive pay’. That is not enough to persuade me to apply. Obviously if you know someone who works in a Macy’s store and doesn’t mind showing you their paycheck, then no problem.
There is a button encouraging you to apply located at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately you have to create an account first.
If you are keen on working for Macy’s and have the appropriate commercial skills, it is also worth checking out their ecommerce site.
This gives you four categories of work.
Marketing & Customer Experience
This covers – marketing strategy, marketing analytics, marketing systems, interactive marketing, product management and user experience, and is based in either San Francisco or New York
Technology & Development
This covers – operations/QA, website development, ecommerce systems and project management, and is based in San Francisco
Merchants & Site Merchandising
This covers – buying, planning, merchandise analysis and site merchandising, and is based in New York
Creative
This covers – design, copy, photography, creative services and project management, and is based in New York.
Unfortunately clicking on any just takes you back to the search screen with those options pre-selected.
Returning to the jobs home-page and choosing ‘Opportunities at Macy’s', states that Macy’s promises ‘a job that’s more than just a paycheck’. It also says, more specifically, that working for Macy’s:
- Inspires
- Employs your mind
- Helps build relationships with others
Choosing the ‘Benefits’ link at the top of the page gives five options:
- Your health
- Your future
- Your well-being
- Your convenience
- Our gratitude
Your health
This promises medical and dental programs but they aren’t free. Disability income protection is offered to full and part-time employees. Macy’s ‘Healthy Living Wellness Program’ offers blood pressure and cholesterol checks, Weight Watchers membership and free preventive care to families of employees.
Your future
This promises the standard retirement investment plan and Macy’s offers to match ‘a portion of’ your pre-tax savings contribution. They don’t say how much, though.
Your well-being
This promises paid holidays(!) and time off to care for a sick relative (presumably unpaid) or if a work-related disability occurs. This doesn’t sound much of a bonus.
Your convenience
This promises direct deposits of your paycheck into your bank (so what) however there is a seemingly useful looking service called ‘In-site’ through which employees can manage their records. Let’s hope Macy’s have a good firewall.
Our gratitude
This promises family discounts ranging from 10% to 20% on Macy’s goods. There are occasionally items for which it goes as high as 30%.
Macy’s website is straightforward enough to navigate but there are deficiencies which need attending to. For example:
- Expecting people to apply without knowing what they will be paid is a bad idea. Many good candidates must be lost that way.
- The benefits need some jazzing up to make them sound more appealing. I mean, ‘If you are injured at work you can have some time off’ – that’s not much of a promise, is it?
- The job adverts could be a bit more personal. Write something about each specific store so that appears in its associated job vacancies – that would be a start.
- There’s a lot of text and no pictures or graphics to break it up. This makes it boring.
- Every new page (or so it seems) opens a new window. That’s really irritating!
- It would be helpful to include a specimen job application form that anyone can download without having to log in first.
- Many big companies attempt to put a human face on their jobs by including videos of ‘typical’ post-holders in action. Macy’s has just one.
But that sums up the Macy’s job vacancies section – uninspiring and impersonal.
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