No one knows how to run a business at this store - Anonymous employee MUJI Employee Review

Full-timers tend to be childish and defensive when encountered with difficult situations, or any situation involving some kind of confrontation. Also witnessed situation in which one associate was overheard calling a customer a homophobic term BY the customer, and a full-time staff later jokingly used that term to refer to an email the customer sent to the store about the incident — proving she had learned nothing despite escalating the situation herself. Incompetence also runs high among full-time staff. One of the embroidery associates frequently does sloppy work and rushes orders, leaving the other to correct her mistakes. The only competent embroidery staff member, unfortunately, is leaving because of this workplace environment and even so management doesn't seem to realize they're losing a good worker. Also, if you're Japanese and weaboos make you uncomfortable, don't work here. The 5th Avenue store is full of them. Raises are given arbitrarily. One girl received multiple raises despite sitting down whenever she wanted to for extended periods of time. She also intentionally came late to take over the register and later cried in one of the storage rooms but was not disciplined. Her behavior and the fact that she receives raises in spite of it is one of the reasons why workplace morale is so low. If you work here, expect to hear about incidents like this on a regular basis. Most of the staff are in their late 20s but act at least 8 years below their actual age. Management likes to hire coddled, co-dependent employees who will never cause trouble but will also never be able to do anything on their own. Another employee who hurt her foot in an accident in the stockroom was allowed to sit down on the sales floor for nearly a month and a half after she came back from her paid sick leave. This meant she would be sitting down on a stool provided just for her at fitting room and Aroma bar (the counter with our aroma diffusers). Everyone else has to stand, and managers will watch you closely on the camera to make sure you're not. Allowing this exception for so long was a slap in the face to other employees and a sign of poor management — in fact, it is a sign of managers who are unwillingly to discipline and confront employees who do things like this, who clearly have no sense of teamwork, in effective ways. You will encounter racist and entitled customers who will feel comfortable referring to you by extremely offensive terms with no response from your co-workers or managers. Full-timer staff who are assigned to their departments will almost never be on the floor, namely the home/furniture section, leaving part-time staff who only have a working knowledge to answer specific questions from multiple customers at a time. Managers will require you learn and enforce the return policy, only to undermine you once a customer raises their voice. This has led to unhygienic returns such as bedding, leggings, underwear, and more. If your customers aren't rude, they'll be creepy. A fair number of Asian-fetishizing customers come in to approach the female staff. They'll ask you if you're Japanese or where you're from, and you'll be expected to be polite and to deal with it. If a customer decides to come in multiple times looking for you, management will not do anything other than hiding you (like stalking is a joke) every time the customer comes in instead of confronting him. There is also no ventilation in the store. The air quality is so poor that I found myself getting sick much more frequently than I had before working there. The aroma diffusers, other people coughing into the air, dust, and miscellaneous particles from outside make the air in the store absolutely filthy. If one person gets sick there, you will definitely get sick as well. The garment stockroom is a fire hazard since it's stacked nearly wall to wall with cardboard boxes, with nonsensical numbers of items coming in. You will get sent arbitrary numbers of items, whether or not they're selling or they're even from the current season, and you'll be expected to find space for them. The store managers are timid and incompetent (as is most of MUJI HQ) when it comes to resolving interpersonal conflicts. They are passive-aggressive, and one manager likes to send other staff to speak to an employee instead of addressing the associate themselves. Overall, working here was demeaning. It made me physically sick, and it paid too little for how stressful it was trying to work in an environment where no one knows what they're doing. If you absolutely need the money and no one else is hiring, go ahead but stay six months at the most. Otherwise, if you have other options, don't even bother.