J. C. Penney Reviews
54% would recommend to a friend
(12489 total reviews)
Marc Rosen
65% approve of CEO
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "The people I work with are great and I love the customers for the most part." (in 718 reviews)
- "My coworkers were great to work alongside and I was always able to receive help when needed." (in 492 reviews)
- "The hours are flexible and is good for a part time or a first time job." (in 484 reviews)
- "At the I worked there the benefits were good and made a lot of friends." (in 347 reviews)
- "The best part about working at JCPenney is the flexible schedule and the 20" (in 268 reviews)
- "Pay was low and I never felt special or meaningful" (in 888 reviews)
- "Poor management To many associates that don't actually work and spend time on their cell phones..." (in 869 reviews)
- "Managers are rude and expect you to suck it up and deal with it since they have the power." (in 455 reviews)
- "The hour changes are kind of crazy and no training" (in 201 reviews)
- "Hours fluctuate wildly making it hard to keep employees working full time.there is no work life balance." (in 155 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of J. C. Penney and is not affected by filters.
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Found 12,489 of over 13K reviews
Updated Mar 22, 2024
- 5.0Maintenance TechnicianCurrent Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Great work life balance, rarely changing schedule (for maintenance department), Coworkers are great, Equipment is varied but not prohibitively difficult, Good upward mobility opportunities, Good support from direct supervisors/managers, Extremely good diversity/inclusion across the workforce
Cons
Won't make you rich, pay is not bad but also not leading the market. Overtime opportunities are minimal (makes for good work/life though), promotion into some sectors may be slow waiting on others to retire. Benefits are very affordable, but not top tier
- 5.0Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Great place to work, great team, offers flexibility
Cons
Competitive pay and benefits can be improved
- 2.0Salon ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsViroqua, WI
Pros
401K, Employee discount, Paid vacation
Cons
Low wages, poor upper management, high turnover, The new company that purchased JCPenney does not care about its employees in general, especially the salon and beauty divisions. Managers are held to unreasonable standards of performance and expected to meet financial goals while battling understaffing, high turnover, old, outdated, broken equipment, and minimum support from management beyond lip service. Business is about profit but when the people component is devalued and diminished it leads to low morale.
- 3.0Merchandise PlannerFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsPlano, TX
Pros
JCP planners and analysts are all very nice and professional. Planning directors are smart and wonderful to work with across all areas so you will love your boss. The company allows you to work from home if you align with your buying team's needs, so flexibility is wonderful. Healthcare benefits are great(Cigna). The company has a good 401k investment plan, which matches up to 6%.
Cons
The IT team is weak and it takes weeks and or even months for some systemic resolutions. The planning role is constantly changing as well as the planning systems and processes. Currently, not all systems/processes are customer-centric. The available business data has a high level of errors so you spend most of your time validating and correcting data. Planning deadlines are often difficult so you can expect to work many late nights along with some weekends.
- 4.0Sr Assistant BuyerCurrent Employee
Pros
On the best teams I have been apart of, there is a lot of flexibility and understanding. In the merchant world, you work for primarily women, and a lot of working moms, which is great to see. They also tend to be more understanding and flexible with work schedule, as long as you are getting your work done. I have also found that in the DFW area, the pay with JCP is competitive & we have good benefits. In my experience, high leadership has been very approachable and kind. Co-workers across the company have always been great in all of my different roles and areas of responsibility.
Cons
The nature of retail is very inconcsistent and changes a lot & you don't really get a say in where you get moved to, as it is based on the needs of the business not the individual. This could be broader economics driven, but there has not been a lot of corporate departures in the merchant world, which leads to less promotions, which makes it a long and tedious process to advance at the company. Training for the AB role is also very "sink or swim" depending on your team and manager. You are expected to dive in and seek out the resources for training on your own, which is hard for even the most driven employees
- 3.0Loss PreventionFormer EmployeePlano, TX
Pros
Liked Co workers and team
Cons
Looked over for management position even though I was already doing the job while they looked to hire.
- 5.0Sales Associate/CashierCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearOdessa, TX
Pros
There is positive managers that help their employees to grow. There is also employees that work together to work more efficiently.
Cons
A downside of working at JCPenney is the customers that may give an unpleasant experience at working at JCPenney.
- 5.0Sr. Business AnalystFormer Employee, more than 10 yearsPlano, TX
Pros
Working from home was great.
Cons
Jobs being sent to India.
- 3.0Merchandise Execution AssociateCurrent EmployeeOlympia, WA
Pros
Great coworkers Recognition by customers
Cons
Understaffed Limited Hours Advancement Opportunities Are Rare
- 4.0Product AnalystCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsPlano, TX
Pros
Good coworkers and managers, a company cares about employees
Cons
The retail industry as a whole is hard right now. A lack of earnings can mean a lack of internal resources but JCP is trying to find the best way forward for its employees.
J. C. Penney Reviews FAQs
- J. C. Penney has an overall rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 12,790 reviews left anonymously by employees. 54% of employees would recommend working at J. C. Penney to a friend and 39% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.
- 54% of J. C. Penney employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated J. C. Penney 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.3 for culture and values and 3.0 for career opportunities.
- According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at J. C. Penney to be management, benefits, coworkers and the cons to be culture, career development.