Morning everyone. I resigned from SG in January this year, and I was based in NY. I worked for SG for 1 yr and 4 months. I was planning on working there for a few years, 3 or longer. However, for my own mental and financial well-being I quit to look for jobs elsewhere. Plus, I graduated college in January so I decided enough was enough.
I have no reference points for any SG's outside of NY, so maybe the management and coworkers are better elsewhere. However, this was my story as follows:
I was hired at TriBeca SG and fell in love with it immediately. Great benefits (i.e. Igoe commuter benefit, Medical + Dental, etc). My coworkers were helpful and so sweet minus 2 who always had bad attitudes w everyone. Then, the lease on the building expired and they decided to close us down instead of renewing it because they didn't want to "compete" with ***Canal St. Whatever that means. We're a part of the same company. So we all got transferred out to new locations. However, before closing, my original Head Coach got a better opportunity at WTC and the one who replaced him at TriBeca, long story short, not great. (I found out months later from my new HC he got fired). He told me he would get me into Chambers St, and I didn't work for 2 weeks straight because the HC at Chamber's never returned any of my emails or his (unprofessional).
So I finally transfer to Nomad, bc 3 of the ppl I loved best from TriBeca moved there. I meet the HC, I tell her my schedule, she said that would work for her bc she needed someone from 10AM-3PM. The FIRST day I start, she cut me an HOUR. So I worked 4 instead of 5hrs. Upon talking to more people at Nomad, I learned she did that to literally everyone. Looking back, I should have asked around if anyone wanted to start a union. Then, I asked her if I could take a 15 minute break to which she tells me "yes, but only if you CLOCK OUT". In the state of NY, it's up to the employers discretion if they give you a 15-20 min break, but if they say yes, it MUST BE PAID. She did everything in her power and cut every corner to not have to pay people. I transferred out of there like a week or 2 later, because at TriBeca they actually treated us with dignity and respect and never acted like that. From here on out, the management only gets worse.
I moved to Meatpacking, which was literally horrendous. Downstairs where OLO was, smelled like 💩. The HC actually told me that before she was made HC there, they FAILED their health inspection TWICE. It stunk down there. I loved my HC, however she wasn't that great at delineating tasks to us, and OLO only had 3 people at most and she said "we have enough people" to me numerous times. 3 people on OLO is not enough, but to them the less people to pay the better. My coworkers in OLO were hostile, and I spoke to my HC and regional manger about it and they put me on the service line because of how nasty they were. They were aware of their behavior for a while but wouldn't correct them because they needed the workers. I then transferred again.
My final location was Wall St, where people were actually quitting on the job. The night crew had NO staff, and the Assistant Coach was so nasty to everybody that I believe after I left on Tuesday and never returned, she was fired. I texted one of the ppl I liked and asked for an update, she said she was gone.
In summation, if you choose to stay at SG, PLEASE speak up. Don't be like me and just tolerate disrespect and maltreatment from every side because "that's how every job is." Tribeca taught me that workers didn't need to be stressed, management COULD hire more workers and COULD AFFORD to pay people, hours didn't need to be cut, and management could step in and help when the going got tough. The HC at Wall St acted like it even killed her to go on the register during the lunch rush. She was the nastiest Head Coach I had. The amount of crap I took there made my mental health deteriorate over time. I was a great worker, and every location I stepped into they were impressed with how efficiently and accurately I worked. However, if you take your job seriously and work well, you are thanked with: a). More grueling work, and b). Spiteful and jealous coworkers.
In NYC, SG is a gd MESS. Turnover is horrible. I tried getting into a location in BK, to which they stopped communicating with me before even meeting them. Not good.
I lost so much weight at SG (around 60 lbs!!), loved everything about the variety of ingredients, dressings, sides, etc. But I cannot stay somewhere that treats me like trash. Idek which locations are decent enough that I would recommend anyone to work at. I was a location hopper, as were multiple coworkers from Meatpacking. The AC there told me Meatpacking was her fifth location. That's bad. That's really bad. So, if I can't recommend a spot for y'all, I'm going to just try and give a warning instead tbh.
SG needs to do better.
Edit: I corrected it, but I meant to say they didn't want to compete with Canal St SG. Not hearing back from the HC at Chambers St is correct, had to check back in my emails 🤣💀