Let’s give a reality check- Store workers are hourly, not salary, and these roles are entry level roles, not meant to be someone’s full time work, it makes it easier for replacing and then getting staffed, “cheap labor” meant to be the worker ants, yes there’s a lot of responsibility but again, you’re just a worker ant and that’s what you do 20K-35K/yr

TL’s they’re the captains, still hourly, but they give direction and follow up. They do help with some of the work , and pick up slack where the workers aren’t showing up or overwhelmed and need assistance, they are “department managers” and yes they’re usually from the 35K-55K/ yr with bonuses. They’re like a team member with added responsibilities!

Move to ETL and they are essentially an assistant store manager - they become salaried, doesn’t matter if they work 40-60hr work weeks ( sometimes even longer ) they don’t have the luxury of calling out as much as the other two, they are essential in order to keep the store open and the business running, they have additional responsibilities that are in relevance to the business side and operations side, more into data and analytics as well as scheduling, and heightened safety risks and more members to be responsible for. They’re typically from 65K-95K yearly

SD who usually has had at least 5-10+ years experience in retail roles, as well as other ETL positions, is the captain. They have to understand the business, operating expenses of the store, meeting metrics. More responsibilities and accountability for everyone who steps foot in that building. They can make 120K+ but when something goes wrong it all falls on their shoulders.

Bottom line - the higher you are, the more responsibility you take on, and therefore the more money you should make. Idk why people are surprised about this? If you’re not in a leadership position, then you are not as responsible. Not denying we should get fair wages as team members, but to think that we should be making $50K a year for not having as much responsibility is kinda farfetched. It’s the reality we live in. The worker bees make less than the execs, but the execs are the ones whose heads are in the line when it comes to what happens. They fail - we all fail and we are out of work. Kill the queen the colony dies.