Unqualified management, Favouritism, and a Toxic Work Culture - Sales Associate On Employee Review

1.0
Feb 15, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free On shoes, apparel and socks.

Cons

Working at On Regent street equals to the worst professional experience. The company sells itself as innovative and people-focused, but the reality is a toxic, mismanaged mess where employees are treated like disposable labour. From the start, they make endless promises they never intend to keep. Pay raises after one year are nonexistent unless you’re one of management’s favourites, in which case you’ll be promoted despite having zero qualifications. Hard work means nothing here. The shop is absolute chaos! It’s constantly overcrowded, forcing advisors to serve 3-5 customers at once while trying to navigate a messy, unorganized floor and yet they insist it is a “premium” brand while providing “Primark” style service. Laughable to say the least! There is no break area, and only three disgusting, always-broken toilets for 90+ employees. Work devices are filthy, never cleaned, and the company doesn’t even bother to provide sanitizing wipes. Basic workplace hygiene and employee well-being are completely ignored. Management is a joke! They gossip about employees, yell, use foul language, and play favourites shamelessly. Bullying and harassment are swept under the rug. Reaching out to the incompetent Swiss HR for help means you’ll be reprimanded for it. On has failed to pay salaries on time—four separate occasions—leaving employees stressed and struggling. The new “leadership” team is made up of completely unqualified, non-leaders hired through personal connections, and is only focused on cutting costs and making more money. Bonuses have been slashed by 60%, holiday pay is no longer fairly distributed, and sick days are now monitored like a prison sentence meaning advisors come to work sick. The favouritism is beyond absurd. Blackout vacation dates apply to everyone—except management’s friends. Leadership ignores emails for days but then has no problem punishing employees for speaking up. Internal promotions are also nonexistent. They’d rather bring in their own unqualified “yes buddies” than recognize the hard work, dedication and longevity of their existing team. Unsurprisingly, 90% of the original store team has quit. On is not a company that values its employees. It’s a brand run by out-of-touch executives in Zurich who have no idea or just don’t care how mismanaged their business is. It’s only fitting that the toxic work environment is as bad as the product itself—overpriced, poor quality, and completely hollow, just like their so-called “culture.” On is a sham!

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On Response
1y
Hi, we’re very sorry to hear this was your experience at On. We care about each teammate's experience and genuinely want to create a culture where the whole team can feel safe to be themselves and thrive. Please know that we take reviews like this very seriously and our team is actively working to address this feedback internally. This is not the experience we want to provide our team members and will take on your comments to improve.

Explore other reviews about On

5.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company to work for!

Cons

still new to retail space, so some processes have not yet been established

1.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Room for growth, especially if you really go looking for opportunities. Most of the opportunities are within retail. Don’t expect to be launched into a corporate role from a retail role.

Cons

- Pay is not good. Similar retailers pay several dollars more per hour and offer better benefits. They say that the rate is competitive but having worked for several other retailers, it’s not. - Operations are a nightmare. The company has scaled too fast and has left many loose ends that are still not tied up. Good luck finding answers to any problem that comes up. Be warned that paychecks and benefits WILL get screwed up. There are so many inconsistencies that make for more work and needless interpersonal friction. - Too much information is available for the entire company to view. There are not appropriate channels built in to limit access to information based on title and responsibilities. - Company culture is fine, but not for everyone. I did not feel welcome. I would not recommend working here unless you do super well with ambiguity. This company is still running like a startup.

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