FollowOctober 6th 2015 – Urban Outfitters, exemplar retail clothing store of the over-priced hipster variety, has decided that paying their workers is too mainstream. Working for free, though, now that is an idea.
On Tuesday afternoon, parent company URBN sent out a company-wide email inviting its employees to “a team-building activity”. This warm invitation proposing constructive team exercise and bonding quickly lost its heat, became lukewarm then downright cold when employees read on, and realized that this invitation was a ploy to get them to “pick, pack and ship” orders.
URBN, the parent company of not only Urban Outfitters but also Free People and Anthropologie, cited its mass call for “volunteers” as a result of October being a season of peak demand. The company’s “request” for volunteers spans five days in the middle of the month and even offers transportation to their fulfillment center located in Pennsylvania.
To call Urban Outfitters’ request ridiculous would be an understatement. Considering the company’s questionable past and its multiple issues with cultural appropriation, the idea starts to lose its shock value. Amidst its many reputations—a clothing store known for its trendy clothing on one hand and a company with major social issues on the other—Urban Outfitters once again proves that it can never be too hipster. The company is simply extending what has pushed it to the forefront of retail stores and clothing trends in the nation–its brand. Deeming itself a retailer that supplies “lifestyle merchandise” and exudes “creativity,” Urban Outfitters clearly has a superiority complex. The company has crossed the line between indie-bohemian-chill vibes and a complete overthrow of our basic economic and social system.
Why work for free, any logical-minded person would ask? Well, says Urban, to work for free is to embrace the very essence of progress. To work for free, you are essentially not working. You’re either “volunteering,” which implies doing some good and giving back to the community, or you’re enjoying a hobby, something that in its nature implies a drive to do something purely out of joy. Apparently, packing and shipping orders is the newest pastime.
Makes sense. As we all know, ”team buildings activities” are fun and beneficial.
And with a free lunch, it’s not so bad, right?
Well, Urban Outfitters, you want to foster team building? You got it. Because the fact is, nothing binds people together more than hate. And there’s no denying that, aside from the couple of loyal, flannel-and-ripped-jean-clad employees, no one appreciates working for free (it’s an oxymoron).
Cover photo: Louise Eliares, Creative Commons licensing
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