Retail is one of the most demanding jobs out there, and now a Target employee has gone viral on TikTok after revealing the surprisingly scientific way the store measures productivity.
In the video, where she took viewers along to a Target shift with her, Kristine Nguyen (@mellowkristiny) said she was competing with other employees to be the “fastest picker” of the day.
“Your pick productivity is basically like how fast you do a batch,” she said. “However, it’s based on a ton of factors like if the floor is current; if everything’s on the floor; was it delivered today; is it located in the back.”
“Really, it’s honestly based on luck,” she added. “For my first batch, I couldn’t find these Legos. So another factor, like, if you can’t find stuff, you have to wait. But I guess I’m just bad at my job because they found the Lego I was looking for.”
@mellowkristiny lucky girl syndrome 😜 #work #target #fyp #itsagame ♬ original sound – kristine nguyen
She then detailed the times it takes her to do each “batch” and how the handheld scanner calculates her productivity with a figure based on units picked per hour.
“So this [batch], I did it at 6:27 a.m., and everything was already located in the beauty stock room,” she said. “So I was blessed by the Target Gods this time. Anyway, because of that, I finished this batch pretty quick at 6:30 a.m., and my productivity was 204.55.”
As she continued her shift, she did numerous other “batches” and shared how her pick productivity fluctuated based on how easy the products were to find.
“I got really lucky with all my batches today. Like, most of them were located in the back,” she concluded. “But like I said, it’s really based on luck. And if you know where to look when items are missing, then you’ll be good.”
In the comments section, other past and present Target employees shared their thoughts on the system. “I don’t even bother checking my productivity,” one said. “I used to try and get a low a** pick time so they wouldn’t ask me to help,” another shared.
Nguyen didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
