Which companies have the worst turnover (pre-covid)?
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I have been at Ascena for more than five years and that basically makes me a dinosaur. I think almost the entire planning orgs for both Ann Taylor have turned over during that time, and it is not that odd for merchants and planners with both brands to not even make it to year before leaving. Retention is a huge issue for them, though part of it is they don’t offer, at least on the planning/merchant side, many opportunities to move up at all, and that is the only way to get a pay increase since Ascena has mostly eliminated COL increases, merit increases and bonuses.
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I’m sure people could benefit from your insight into Ascena. It would be great for you to discuss your experience in the Company Reviews section.
Unfortunately nearly all the companies I’ve worked for had awful turnover. I think it’s a feature of this industry. No loyalty from your company whatsoever, combined with egomaniac bosses who love to flex their power by firing random people on a whim.
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Same I agree on the most companies I have worked for and the turnover thing
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It used to be that California was the destination for high turnover companies. Now it’s all over. The apparel companies here don’t seem to care who’s ass in in the seat or what their qualifications are as long as they’re cheap. What ends up happening is that the wrong candidate is consistently hired and fired every few months. It actually costs the company so much money in on boarding new staff constantly. If they woudl only hire someone qualified and pay them decently…
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Definitely Figs. 6 months was considered a veteran. They celebrate 1 year anniversaries in company wide meetings.
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I’m a designer, specializing in handbags, luggage, backpacks, etc and can do pretty much any product. The companies that I stayed at for many years were crazy and abusive so I can definitely say I’ve got a high tolerance! If anyone is looking for a designer that will stick with the position, let me know!
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Chico’ FAS has high turnover rate & very toxic work environment. It’s unfortunate that there is soooooo many in retail 
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Same here let me know if they have 2 spots if you find one 
same sector here as you.
Thirty-One Gifts has been bad for years! The owner and CEO has based her business on Proverbs 31 about the ‘Virtuous Woman’ and claims to have created the business to help women to have their own businesses and make money to support their families. (this is in reference to their sales reps, as 31 is a direct sales company) This is great, but they treat their designers terribly. Every other department gets recognized regularly and promoted while the design team is over-worked, under-appreciated, under-paid, under-staffed and rarely promoted. The CEO and E-level staff have it in their heads that designers are stupid and have big heads and therefore are treated that way. I’ve worked with some amazingly talented and smart designers there, none of which were stupid or had big heads.
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Wow, that is really surprising to hear. No one deserves to be treated like that. They shouldn’t have a design team if they think their employees are stupid. If anything, they should do it themselves. Everyone needs to be treated equally.
yes, most of companies are infamous with high turnovers in our industry…unfortunately.
Its just hostile & high stress, no reward, poor management, leading to workers without any loyalty…
Ellie Tahari seems always famous within the industry, (I guess now they’re even more famous being closed 1day of announcement of company closing… 
)
DKNY was one of the high turn over…even with GIII-
This is a NO BRAINER Hands Down Winner of the company with the worst turnover, and can we also say Management-ELIE TAHARI
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Tommy’s knit PD team
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Skechers in Manhattan Beach has an apparel line now. Never saw so much turnover and bad management in my fifteen years in the industry. Horrible turn over and horrible VP. Steer clear of their apparel team. I had multiple bosses within two years of working there. It will seem attractive because they seem to pay well. Not worth any amount of money to deal with that abuse.
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The original BCBG was the worst culprit on the West Coast. That place was referred to as The Meat Grinder by job seekers.
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Fleet Street Ltd.
I’ve seen people hired one week and fired just the following week, for no particular reason other it not being “the right time”.
Someone else was hired and fired just 4 weeks later because the owner found someone that “better fit the role” (which then that person was fired just 3 months later). I would say on average, ~8 people fired in a year’s time.
Oh wow I have been trying to get into Skechers Apparel for a while, that’s good to know. I heard they don’t pay well. Can you say more about the work hours? Was it just the apparel team or is the culture bad all around?
Oh I have a coworker who was his assistant designer and the stories she has about that man are endless.
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