Pros
Preface to say Lifetouch has different divisions, portrait studios, schools, and church, (the field). They have employees in the labs that process,publishing, and the home office, (corporate environment). I can only speak about the portrait studio division and the home office connection with the studios. There are a lot of good people at Lifetouch Caring and dedicated to their customers and each other. Good place to learn photography skills, ( to develop a "good eye"for photography ), and to shoot well quickly,(don't expect to learn much else such as lighting, it is set to perform quick sittings)The rapport and memories you create for customers is so intrinsically valuable, it is in fact priceless. I believe it is the main reason people stay longer and work so very hard. There is a good sales process that has been revamped hundreds of times so it is easy to follow and customers don't feel they are pushed. Flexibility in hours to a certain degree. Good starting job for team members, and for that matter managers because there is not much room for advancement and the wages are ridiculously low which brings me to - Cons
Cons
In the field, the " front lines" of customer ( formally guests ), interaction, The expectations are far to high for the labor used. The pay for a manager running a retail operation is far below standard management pay. Team members(associates) newly hired are supposed to get minimum wage and only slightly higher with experience. In the photography market it is true profit margins are shrinking. Lifetouch has still made a profit. Recently, they initiated a 20% reduction in the work force in the field, laying off many, many employees in managerial positions in the field, I was one of them. Studio, territory, and regional management. Why? To keep the employee owned stock price stable. They sacrificed many dedicated individuals who truly cared and lived by the Lifetouch mission statement. The remaining portrait studio managers have dual studios to manage. Two studios instead of one with twice the work. Only higher volumes get an assistant manager. I am very thankful of all that this company has given me, but I can not in good conscience recommend a career path with this company(unless they CHANGE). Executives and upper management have forgone their own mission statement, wherein they say (not verbatim) "we respect our customers and our employees" The customer will feel an even deeper impact on labor reduction decreasing greatly their WOW experience. And, well, just total disrespect for your employees.
