“I don’t know about you, but most of my exchanges with cashiers are not that meaningful.”

Jeff Bezos, Businessman

Pros and Cons of Working as a Cashier

You think about working as a cashier but are not entirely sure whether this is the right job for you or not?

Great! This article is exactly for you.

In fact, I show you all pros and cons of being a cashier in the following chapters.

Cashier Job Profile

Advantages of Being a Cashier

1. You can work with many different clients
2. Cashiers can work in many different fields
3. You can avoid hard physical work as a cashier
4. Most cashiers don’t work more than 40 hours
5. Cashiers have a decent work-life balance
6. You may get discounts on products
7. Being a cashier is not that stressful
8. You don’t have to work in a conventional office job
9. Cashiers can work indoors
10. You don’t need a college degree for becoming a cashier
11. You can avoid student loan debt

You can work with many different clients

One advantage of being a cashier is that you can work with many different clients.

You will sit at the register and make sure that people will pay the correct amount for the goods they bought.

Especially if you work in big stores, chances are that you will serve hundreds of different people each day and this can be quite interesting since you can talk to people with many different opinions about important topics that might bother you right now.

Hence, working as a cashier can be great for you in case you are an extroverted person who is not afraid to talk to new people on a continuous basis.

Cashiers can work in many different fields

As a cashier, you will also not be confined to working in a specific industry. In fact, you can work for many different companies.

This includes retailers, grocery stores and many others.

Cashiers will be needed in most branches where goods are sold and this means that you will have plenty of choices to choose an employer.

Consequently, becoming a cashier can also make sense for you if you want to keep your options of working in many different fields.

Cashiers are not only needed within a country, but you will also be able to work in many different countries as a cashier in case you want to live abroad in the future.

Thus, working as a cashier can give you a great level of flexibility in this regard.

You can avoid hard physical work as a cashier

Another benefit of working as a cashier is that you can avoid heavy physical work.

While other people will have to carry heavy materials all day long, you will be the one who sits behind the register and your job will just not be that physically demanding.

Sure, you may still have to do some physical work.

Yet, you will not have to ruin your health like many other people who have to stress their bodies at work on a regular basis.

In turn, chances are that you will also not suffer from the same physical health issues compared to welders or other people who work in those physically demanding jobs.

Most cashiers don’t work more than 40 hours

You will also not work many extra hours as a cashier.

Sure, during Christmas season when many people go shopping, you will have to work a little bit more.

However, you will just not work more than 40 hours most of the time and this allows you to spend plenty of leisure on the things you like more apart from work.

Cashiers have a decent work-life balance

In general, most cashiers report that they also have a pretty good work-life balance.

Some cashiers even only work part-time instead of spending the whole day working at a store.

Consequently, working as a cashier can also make sense for you in case you have to look after your children but still want to make some additional money for your family at the same time.

In such a case, you could just work part-time for 20 hours while you will still have enough time to pick your kids up from school if you manage your time wisely.

You may get discounts on products

Another upside of becoming a cashier is that you may get discounts on products of the store you work for.

For instance, if you work in a grocery store, you may get cheaper groceries.

You may even be able to get groceries for free in case the store no longer wants to sell them.

Thus, you may also be able to save some money and to cut your expenses for certain goods and this will give you the opportunity to spend additional money to spend on other things.

Being a cashier is not that stressful

Most cashiers also don’t feel stressed at all.

Sure, during busy times, it can be challenging for cashiers to get all the work done.

However, once those busy times are over, the stress level greatly decreases and cashiers will therefore have a rather relaxed job for most of their day.

Sure, this also depends on the company you work for and also on your boss.

Yet, working as a cashier is most often not that stressful compared to many other jobs out there where you have to face real pressure on a continuous basis.

You don’t have to work in a conventional office job

By becoming a cashier, you can also avoid conventional office work.

Many people in our current state of the world just stare at a computer screen all day long and are pretty annoyed about what they have to do for a living.

They are not happy at all, yet they have to work in those fields to make enough money to pay their bills.

Working in a classical office job can also be considered rather unnatural since our ancestors have never worked in such a manner for thousands of years and many people who work in those jobs also suffer from mental problems sooner or later.

By working as a cashier, you can avoid all of those issues.

Cashiers can work indoors

Another advantage of a career as a cashier is that you can avoid working outdoors.

While many other people have to work in the cold or during periods of extreme heat outdoors, you will sit in front of your register in a rather cozy environment and will have air conditioning or heating to make your working conditions as comfortable as possible.

You don’t need a college degree for becoming a cashier

You will also not need any fancy education for becoming a cashier.

You don’t need any courses or even a college degree.

Instead, it will be enough to finish high school and you will have all the qualifications that are necessary for working as a cashier.

This means that you will not have to spend lots of money on college education and also don’t have to invest many years of your life into it.

You can avoid student loan debt

Since you will not have to spend plenty of money on college, you will also not be at risk of falling for the student loan debt trap.

In our current state of the world, many young people take on student loans to finance their studies.

While this can make their time in college more enjoyable since they don’t have to worry about money that much during this time of their lives, they will have to pay the piper later on since they have to pay back those student loans sooner or later.

In turn, many people will suffer from financial problems from student loan debt while you as a cashier will not have to deal with this issue.

Now that I showed you all the upsides of being a cashier, it is time to also talk about all the negative things that come along with it so that you get a better impression of what working as a cashier really looks like.

Disadvantages of Working as a Cashier

1. Cashiers are replaceable
2. Many cashiers will lose their jobs in the future
3. Cashiers don’t make good money
4. Many cashiers need a second job
5. You will not be able to afford any luxury
6. Hard to plan your life in general
7. Cashiers have a rather low social standing
8. Overweight may become a problem
9. You may have to work on weekends
10. Problems in the dating market
11. Cashiers often have to work in the evening
12. Teleworking is not possible for cashiers
13. You will not learn many valuable skills
14. The shop you work for may get robbed
15. Rather limited promotion opportunities for cashiers
16. Working as a cashier may become boring in the long run
17. You may be stuck in your job

Cashiers are replaceable

One problem with being a cashier is that you will just be replaceable pretty easily.

Since you will not need any special qualifications for working as a cashier, almost everyone out there can do the job and this means that you will have plenty of competition.

If your boss doesn’t like you anymore one day, he can just fire you and replace you with someone he likes more or someone who just demands a lower wage than you.

Hence, if job security is really important to you, you should definitely go for a different career path.

Many cashiers will lose their jobs in the future

Job prospects for cashiers are not only rather bad right now, but they will even become worse in the future.

Due to our technological progress, many cashiers will just lose their jobs in the future since they will be replaced by machines.

We already see self-checkout opportunities in supermarkets and other stores and this trend will likely continue in the future.

Cashiers don’t make good money

You should also not expect to make a fortune as a cashier.

Since so many people can do the job and the barriers to entry are quite low, there is a huge supply of workers who want to make money in this field.

Consequently, wages are often quite low.

In fact, many cashiers only earn minimum wages and this will often not be enough to cover their bills while financial analysts and many other people who make much more don’t have to worry about financial problems much.

Many cashiers need a second job

If you live in a region where living costs are quite high, chances are that you will not make enough money as a cashier to pay for rent or to cover other basic expenses.

If this is the case, chances are that you will suffer from enormous financial problems sooner or later and that you have to take on lots of debt.

You may even lose your home in the long run and may end up homeless in the streets since you will just not be able to afford to pay for rent.

Of course, not all cashiers will suffer that much.

However, if you live in one of those expensive regions, you should probably go for a different career path to avoid those financial problems that can really ruin your life.

You will not be able to afford any luxury

In general, you will also not be able to afford any luxury as a cashier.

Most often, you will have to spend almost all of your money on rent and other basic expenses and there will just not be enough money left to afford many nice things.

Moreover, since you will not earn enough, you will also not be able to save enough money for retirement, which can lead to serious old-age poverty once you get to retirement age and are no longer able to work anymore.

You may also have problems paying your medical bills since you will often not be able to afford proper health insurance and may not be able to get important medical treatment in case of emergency due to that.

Hard to plan your life in general

Due to all those financial issues, it will also be pretty hard for you to plan your life in general.

You can never be certain what the future has in mind for you and if you have to deal with issues that require lots of money to fix, you will often not be able to do so.

In turn, you will also not be able to make any long-term commitments as a cashier and also banks will likely not lend you money to buy a home and so on.

As you can see, financial problems related to a low wage can cause various problems and you should make sure that you are willing to deal with those things before you decide for a career as a cashier.

Cashiers have a rather low social standing

While people will often appreciate your work, you will just not be admired the same way as people who work in jobs where they can save lives.

While most people are nice, some may even make fun of you.

Even your own family may not understand why you want to become a cashier and may do everything to lead you to a different career path.

Hence, make sure that you are willing to deal with snarky comments in this regard and that you have a stable mindset to ignore those people who will try to bring you down.

Overweight may become a problem

Most cashiers also sit behind their register all day long.

Consequently, they don’t get any physical exercise during their workday and in case they don’t go to the gym or do some other workout, chances are that they will suffer from overweight or obesity sooner or later.

Since obesity can lead to many serious health problems, you should make sure to work out properly after work as a cashier in order to avoid those issues.

However, this means that you will have to invest additional work while many other people just enjoy their leisure after finishing their workday.

You may have to work on weekends

Cashiers also don’t have regular work weeks as most other people do.

In fact, you will often have to work on weekends as a cashier and this can be really annoying since you will often not be able to make nice weekend trips with your family or to meet up with your friends during those times.

Problems in the dating market

Due to your rather low social standing and your low income as a cashier, you may also have a hard time in the dating market.

Even though people often claim that money and status are not important in this regard, the opposite is true in my experience.

Hence, compared to other people who have high social status, make lots of money and therefore almost have freedom of choice of whom they want to date, you may face serious problems in this regard since many people don’t want to date a person who is “just a cashier”.

Cashiers often have to work in the evening

Another downside of working as a cashier is that you will also have to work in the evening, at least for some days of the week.

This means that you will have to work while your friends will meet up and enjoy a cool drink.

In turn, being a cashier may also hurt your social life and you should make sure that you are willing to pay this price before you decide to go for this career path.

Teleworking is not possible for cashiers

You will also not have the luxury to work from home as a cashier.

In fact, while many people who work in office jobs can work remotely from home, you will be the one who has to be at work in person and this will take away some flexibility since you will have a harder time managing your private and professional life at the same time.

You will not learn many valuable skills

Another disadvantage of becoming a cashier is that you will also not learn that many valuable skills.

Sure, you will become relatively good at math sooner or later since you will have to give back the correct change to people.

Yet, apart from that, you will not learn many things that are valuable in the job market.

The shop you work for may get robbed

Working as a cashier can also be dangerous.

In fact, many stores get robbed each year and if you are at the cashier when this happens, you may be in a tricky spot and may even get injured.

Of course, this is relatively unlikely.

Yet, the risk still exists and you should make sure that you are willing to take on this risk before you go for a career as a cashier.

Rather limited promotion opportunities for cashiers

You should also not expect to have great promotion options as a cashier.

Most often, cashiers work in similar positions for decades and can not even dream of being promoted.

Consequently, even if you work hard, it may not be enough to make real progress in this field.

Working as a cashier may become boring in the long run

While your first days as a cashier may be exciting since everything is new, this initial excitement will go away quite soon and may be replaced with boredom sooner or later.

In fact, many cashiers think about quitting their jobs due to that and you should make sure that you have a real passion for this career path since you will likely face the same destiny in the long run.

You may be stuck in your job

Since you will not learn that many hard skills as a cashier, chances are that you will have a hard time switching fields and going for a new career.

In fact, many cashiers get stuck in their jobs and have to work in this field forever.

Top 10 Being a Cashier Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Become A Cashier?

Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of being a cashier, it is on you to decide whether you still want to become a cashier or if you rather want to go for another career path instead.

Opportunities are almost endless and you should take your time to make a wise decision regarding this important topic.

If you are still interested in a cashier career, also make sure to get detailed information on the salary, career prospects, educational requirements, working hours and job satisfaction of cashiers.

Also make sure to check out the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a translator

Advantages and disadvantages of working as an animal trainer

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a babysitter

Sources

https://www.bls.gov/oes/2018/may/oes412011.htm

https://datausa.io/profile/soc/cashiers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashier

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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