Pros
Lowe's does offer relatively affordable insurance, along with a matched 401k up to 100% for the first 3% and 50% up to 6%. Recently Lowe's has added holiday pay that can be used as vacation time in addition to preexisting vacation time that can also be reimbursed at the end of the fiscal year. The employee stock plan is excellent since you can by shares at 15% below market value, as well as employee discount.
Cons
Morale has always been an issue, at my store. Some wages are skewed such as a sales specialist earning more in salary then a department manager. Salaries are very low at the department management level. When I became a department manager for a short while the starting salary was only 22,100.00 which is simply unlivable. Compensation is most definitely Lowe's Achilles heal, most associates do not make more then 25,000 a year, and the only associates receive any real sales incentive outside of senior management are sales specialist who earn regular commission. The Lowe's management at my store is weak as well. Though I do like our store manager, out Zone managers are incompetent and avoid conflict by allowing obvious fraudulent refunds or using associates outside their zones for task, in order to not take away from the staffing on there end. My final complaint is the Lowe's structural ladder. Though I agree staffing is based on level of store income, its is simply in efficient to add and subtract management for the hierarchy, there should be one basic employment level layout.
