Reasonable pay, long hours, very little room for advancement - Manager PetSmart Employee Review

2.0
Jun 17, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong benefits package - fair initial pay - very reasonable for time off for illness or family issues working with the animals - staff are passionate about the pets

Cons

Human Resources tells all new hires that Petsmart has a strong focus on hiring internally when in reality, just under 90% of store and field management are external hires. After you are hired, you will not be promoted so you had better like the job that you are going into. Turnover among store managers and is exceptionally high. It is in the 30% to 40% range in normal economic times and drops during recessions.

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5.0
Jan 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good env to work on

Cons

A lot of work to do

1.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company pushes for more and more from the bottom level employees without better pay. I worked there before the restructuring and; not much can make me cry, but working here sure did, even back then. I can’t imagine how anxiety inducing it must be to work there now. Animal welfare is a complete non-concern. The only thing that’s pushed is sell, sell, sell. It’s borderline dystopian. Bad management seems to be a common issue, not only from my experience, but many others’ as well. I worked until I was an exhausted sweaty mess to make sure everything in pet care or, when I groomed, the salon, was cleaned to perfection as expected of me (and I reiterate: “me,” because these standards were not expected of my co-workers, just me) and overall felt very unseen. The only times I did feel “seen,” was when mistakes were made. Work was treated like boot camp. A co-worker that was subtley targeting/bullying me, and even started rumors accusing me of racist remarks(!!!), was promoted and anything I reported was downplayed because they were friends with the assistant manager. Working here was an overall traumatizing experience.

Cons

Employees are expected to be work-robots

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PetSmart Response
3w
We’re disappointed to hear that your experience didn’t reflect what we aim to create for our associates, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We invite you to contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693 so we can learn more and see how we can support you. Thank you.
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