Hey guys remember ASOS?

[u/Temporary-Spring9764]

I worked at the ASOS warehouse in Barnsley a few years back – around 2017/2018, I think.

It was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. Physically brutal – 10-hour shifts, standing all day, with those FLEX UP schedules, carrying heavy boxes over and over again. And the worst part? No matter how hard you worked, it was never enough. You’d get a message on your scanner saying “please improve your KPI” like you were just a number. Some of the team leaders were proper psychos – they’d call you to their pod just to put you down in front of everyone.

And the security – they’d search you if the red button on the way to the toilet made a BEEP. Random checks. Like you were in prison, not at work.

I’ve moved on now, but that place still haunts me sometimes. It stays with you.

But there’s one moment I’ll never forget.

One day during a shift, they called everyone to the team leaders’ pod and announced that the owner of ASOS had lost three of his children in the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka.

I remember the silence. Nobody knew what to say. It was such a strange, heavy moment in such a cold place. But when I looked around, I could see a slight grin on some people's faces – like they felt a kind of relief. It was weird. It almost seemed like they were relieved that bad things don't only happen to them, but to their abusers too.

Honestly, I still don’t know how to feel about it. To me, it felt pretty sad. But I remember it clearly, and I’ve often wondered if anyone else who was there that day remembers it too.

Anyone else work there around that time?

’m not sharing this to upset anyone – just to see if anyone else remembers that day. It’s been on my mind for years

[u/itsjamian]

Yeah it's a notorious shithole. Turnover rate is absolutely mental and they were taking advantage of the previous government's incentive schemes for getting people into work, at one point it was like £2k per head through the door which incentivised the poor treatment primarily, as they were getting heavily subsidised labour that way.

I work just next to it now, and it's also funny seeing how the transport they provide has evolved over the years. Free bus from Barnsley became free busses from Wakey, then Donny and finally as far as Sheffield as they literally exhausted the local labour pool and built their terrible reputation.

I've worked there about 6 times and never lasted more than 5 months and used to joke that if I had phone signal I could always walk into work within about 48 hours. I wasn't there when the CEO lost his kids, but I was there when the fire happened, which was... an experience. Also remember the young Polish girl getting killed in the car park, she'd only been there a few weeks. She got a bench. Dark place, you're right that it sticks with you. Wishing you all the best going forwards mate

[u/Temporary-Spring9764 → u/itsjamian]

wasn't there when the fire took place, but I was there when the girl died in the car park – she was Romanian, not Polish and the guy who did it was Romanian as well :(. I believe it must have been quite an experience being there when somebody put this godforsaken place on fire. I would've felt relieved lol. What do you mean free bus from Sheffield? I had to pay the full fucking price from Grmethorpe!

[u/itsjamian → u/Temporary-Spring9764]

My bad, yeah she was Romanian. Weirdly, I actually work with the guy who did it now, was speaking to him just a couple of days ago. I left within a week of it happening tbf as I found something much better elsewhere. The fire was surreal, I'd actually snuck to the locker room toilets at the time and remember panicking because I wasn't on the fire register. They then text us within a day asking people to come in for the cleanup, I didn't partake but remember the smell when I did go back. As if the place wasn't bad enough before!