>>992185I'm also an MEC employee, but I haven't drunk the koolaid to the same extent this lad has.
I've heard this from the CEO himself, that MEC as a chain is targeting millennials, and particularly non-white millennials. This is why they are focusing more and more on social camping (car camping). This explains all the shit that they have been bringing in which is pretty useless for us /out/types.
There have been some good products coming in, but you really have to find a good staff member to help you find it. Sadly there aren't many of those. Over the past year, the stores have been firing staff who have been with the store for 15+ years. These are generally the more experienced and knowledgable staff who have the knowledge which made MEC great once. They usually pull the employee aside, and make them sign a renegotiated contract (with very unreasonable terms) or quit. This is in line with the CEO saying that they see MEC stores as a place for someone to work for about 5 years max.
MEC is purposefully removing its very strong knowledge base, which had given it a massive advantage over many of its competitors. I should also mention that the work culture at head office is full of cliques, very cutthroat, and criticism adverse. Over the past year, the Head of HR and the head of Tech were both fired, each employees for 10+ years.
As for products being expensive and shit. I mostly agree. I also had a chance to speak to some product developers. They were surprisingly open. They said they are working hard to improve quality and design (some of the most recent packs show this). That said, they do appear to be under huge pressure to deliver on products aimed at the target audience (which loves compromise over practicality).
I do enjoy working here, but the environment is becoming increasingly toxic. I'll be leaving within the next year.
Happy to answer other questions.
