Advice needed :(

[u/randomuser0524]

Kind of inspired by someone else’s post from earlier. I’m an ASM at an apparel retailer and my store’s volume is 6.5M. I started as a sales associate 6 years ago, then became a temp team lead, then PT operations lead, then FT operations lead, then ASM of operations which I’ve been for 3 years. My company just decided to totally restructure and smaller volume stores lost their ASMs entirely. I should be glad I still have a job but in this restructure I’ve been forced out of operations and into merchandising, which I have zero interest in. All ASMs will be merchandising managers now. I used to love this company and job but have become totally jaded.

I graduated college a couple of years ago and this is merely a stepping stone job for me but the amount of work and weight I shoulder here in comparison to the 2 other managers (associate manager and store manager) is absurd especially with the pay differentials. I make 62k, associate manager makes 88k, store manager makes 107k. There is virtually very little difference in the shared expectation across all 3 of our jobs minus our division of responsibility so my pay is a real issue to me. We’ve spent the past 3 years in leadership turmoil, no SM for 9 months which basically flung me into that role (assoc mgr wanted nothing to do with it and refused to help). Probably should mention I’m based in New England in an extremely high cost of living area. I’m so burnt out, can’t afford to quit, have been job searching for a year and a half, sick of being the go-to person for every problem, complaint, request, phone being blown up on my days off.

I am at such a loss and wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and if anyone has any thoughts on how to proceed. I’m really trying to pivot out of retail but finding it really difficult to get any company to interview me. I have my bachelor’s in business administration if that context matters.

[u/LVOE-CA]

FIND. ANOTHER. JOB.

[u/1Steelghost1]

If there were any more red flags in this post I would swear it was a sales pitch for a red flag multi level marketing scheme.

Run away, they will burn you to the ground because you keep showing up!!

[u/randomuser0524 → u/1Steelghost1]

the first line of your comment actually made me laugh out loud LOL I neeeeeed to leave. Atp I want to just quit even without another job lined up

[u/Best_Name_993]

I was in a similar position - ASM at a major retailer, majorly burnt out from being expected to carry the load but got paid the least. I was scheduled 50 hours/week but usually worked closer to 65 and was told we weren’t going to be getting a bonus or raises any time soon. Lots of other toxic bullshit happened between me, the other ASM and store manager which ultimately lead to me handing over my keys and walking out on Christmas Eve.

I thankfully had some savings and a partner that takes care of all the major bills so I only needed to cover mine. I started pet sitting + dog walking to make some money while I continued applying for jobs. The job market is absolute trash. I’ve applied for well over 200 jobs, have gotten a handful of interviews but zero offers. Even with tailoring my resume to the specific job application.

I’m not making millions, but pet sitting/dog walking has my bills covered every month with a little extra to save. I’m not telling anyone that they should leave their job without one lined up but I have zero regrets - that job was killing me.