Former Glossier Employees Accuse the Company of Mistreatment
Former retail workers are demanding the brand commit itself to actualizing the self-image it promotes on social media.
Former Glossier retail employees have taken to social media this week to call out the famed makeup brand for creating an unsupportive work environment, especially for workers of color, via Medium, Twitter, and Instagram.
The accounts, called Outta the Gloss (a reference to a popular Glossier blog Into the Gloss), were created by the makeup brand’s former retail employees. The posts, which were released about a week after the company laid off all of its retail staff, recount several ways in which the company failed to protect and support its retail workers, especially workers of color.
“Many of us were duped by the pink brand from Instagram,” the one post reads, “[The flagship leadership was] ill-equipped to guide a diverse team through the unique stressors of working in an experiential store and assisting customers who are often justifiably frustrated by the disorienting flagship model.”
Glossier CEO Emily Weiss wrote last year: “The tens of thousands of people who visit our two stores weekly aren’t just coming for products they could buy online — they’re lining up for the community and the experience of being together.” Yet, the Outta the Gloss’ lengthy post recounts a number of ways in which the company failed to create said supportive environments for its retail workers, or “offline editors” as the brand calls them.
The editors behind the account provided several examples of microaggressions, sexism, and racism the workers had to endure, which they allege were not addressed and handled by management or HR. The incidents included allowing a woman who visited the store to repeatedly refer to the company’s Latinx workers as “illegals” into the store; permitting a group of chaperoned white teens to wear the darkest Glossier makeup shades, emulating blackface; not reprimanding a manager who randomly confused the names of their BIPOC workers and was not fired for it, despite numerous requests and not reproaching a man who proceeded to massage an editor without her consent.
The store, according to the former retail workers, employed a “surprise and delight” marketing strategy which ensured customer satisfaction often at the expense of employees’ wellbeing. Customer complaints, even if accompanied by aggressive and disrespectful behavior, were met with gifts and full refunds. The workers allege their complaints fell to the wayside. And while the editors admit that retail and customer service work may require one to make some personal sacrifices to begin with, “the idea that sale supersedes humanity and dignity of an employee is abhorrent no matter where one works.”
Glossier has now joined a growing list of millennial companies — like Everlane, Away and Reformation — whose self-propagated online image of diversity and inclusion is not held up behind closed doors. Management allegedly implied to the editors that due to the popularity of the brand, both as a workplace and a shopping destination, those that did not wish to work there anymore or voiced too many concerns could easily be replaced. “Former editors exasperated with the company’s inability to adhere to its own published values have often sounded a death knell upon quitting, advocating for those still working at the store” the post reads, “but they leave knowing that there’s a young fan who, as long as they keep “cool” and are affable, will soon replace them and make fewer demands.”
In addition to leadership’s inability to manage and prevent its workers’ emotional turmoil, the makeup brand failed to facilitate safe working conditions, as well. The posts recollect the lack of air conditioning in the showroom during humid NYC summers as well as the habitual violations of penthouse occupancy limits (the maximum capacity for the Glossier Lafayette Street showroom was 16 people according to NYC Department of Buildings documents obtained by The Interlude; the sales team alone exceeded that number). Outta the Gloss posts also describe how there were no break rooms, which forced the staff to eat and rest on the “damp room’s floor riddled with rat waste,” and more. The former employees allege that they were told the conditions would improve once the company grew.
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The former employees laid out several demands of Glossier, which includes an open Zoom call where the makeup brand will commit to equalizing and elevating BIPOC editor voices, quarterly company-wide anti racism training, transparency regarding wages, pay parity and more.
“We know the proclaimed brand values of inclusivity, accessibility and equity should apply to us,” the posts conclude, “We ask Glossier’s devoted community: if [the brand’s vow to democratize beauty] is only achieved by pernicious silencing of Black and Brown editors and without treating marginalized staff equitably — have they democratized beauty at all, or is it more of the same?”
A representative for Glossier told The Interlude via email that the company initiated conversations with its retail team members about where it had fallen short in June, and said the company quickly moved to “investigate their claims with guidance from outside counsel, and in early July, shared an initial action plan based on their feedback and the findings from the investigation.” The Interlude has not been able to confirm whether such a discussion occurred.
Outta the Gloss did not immediately respond to The Interlude’s requests for comment.
We will update this story as it develops. Additional reporting by Cameron Oakes
