A young woman who interned for a year at the Normal store chain describes being pressured to train new hires and criticized for sick leave. She says she felt terrible and the experience has deeply affected her. Normal's Sweden chief apologizes and launches an internal review.
A high school student interned at Normal for a year in sales and service. She was tasked with training new hires on the cash register, despite being denied a permanent job. "It felt like she put more pressure on me than on the employees," she says of the store manager.
There were often five to six interns at once, with new ones replacing those who left. Colleagues provided support, including when the manager gave her an inappropriate nickname. When she texted about sick leave one morning, the manager replied: "You know what I've said about these late texts? You probably felt something yesterday already."
Afterward, she felt so bad she couldn't even attend school. "I felt like shit," she says, and now has a better internship with less pressure. The experience has made her anxious about future job applications.
Normal's Sweden chief Jan Nyberg writes in an email that the testimonies do not align with company guidelines, which state interns must never replace regular staff. "Internships at NORMAL should be educational and safe," he states. The company is launching a broad internal review of routines and staffing.
