laborer

driver

department manager

store manager

purchasing assistant

TERRA Greenhouses

Got this job as soon as uni ended and was promised full-time work until the beginning of August but they unexpectedly laid me off at the end of May! I wasn't even employed there for a full month. I later found out through a family friend that works with Terra that this is what the company does. They hire college/university students, promise steady work until August and then lay-off most of the seasonal employees at the beginning of June.

Before your first shift, they require you to purchase gardening gloves, their $35 work shirts (which fit small) and $100+ steel toe work boots. None of which was compensated for when I left after barely a month of employment. The breakroom was always crowded with people and the fridge would never close properly due to it being stuffed with everyone's lunches. Additionally, they only had two bathrooms in the building that were never available seeing as none were employee's only.  While the sales associates always got their required breaks and lunches I know that the cashiers would work 9+ hours and only receive their unpaid lunch. 

The work was physically demanding but not very difficult, and they did expect you to know everything once hired with little to no training on their end.  In the brief time that I was there, they could barely give me full-time hours, some weeks I had less than 3 shifts. You are also required to stay late somedays, after your scheduled shift (+30mins), in order to close the store since they are so unorganized. While most of the employees were fun to work with and very nice that does not cover the fact that management purposefully deceived you right from the word go. I'd recommend that you look elsewhere for a job so you're not one of the unlucky people that get laid off and have to find another job part way through your school/summer break.

I worked at Terra as a seasonal employee for two summers, and as a part-time employee at the end of my second summer. 

As a university student, when I first applied I was only looking for a temporary job where I could get lots of hours during my summer break. This job was an excellent summer job because I was able to work full time for the most part. However, by the end of the summer, the busy season has died down, and by August it is expected that seasonal staff will be working a bit less than full-time. However, this does mean that management was also very accommodating about giving vacation time when requested. 

At first, starting this job as a seasonal employee can be somewhat stressful, because the summer is the store's busiest time. If you are unfamiliar with plants or other greenhouse products, there may be times when it is difficult to answer customer questions. However, more experienced staff are always extremely kind and helpful in teaching seasonal workers everything there is to know. 

I learned a lot in my time as a seasonal Terra employee, which motivated me to keep working at the job part-part time during my school semester. Furthermore, I made great friendships with my co-workers, which further motivated me to keep the job part-time. Once again, management was extremely understanding in accommodating my studies when making the weekly schedules, as they were flexible in only giving me a few hours a week. 

Overall, I would recommend this job, especially to anyone who enjoys a social work environment.  

I worked at the Terra Waterdown location over the course of Spring and Summer 2020 in the production side of the business. My role there was typically coming to help where the regular weekly staff were falling behind due to minimal staffing during the COVID19 lockdown measures. My responsibilities were not limited to one specific job for this reason, and ranged from picking orders, setting up growing fields and bays, warehouse inventory/organization, and various other duties required of production. 

I worked very closely with the management and found them to be some of the kindest people I have ever worked for. They took every step to ensure that COVID guidelines for distancing and sanitation were maintained and enforced, but also made sure to provide assistance and guidance when needed. Their team work-culture was always kind and friendly, though the exposure to other employees was limited during my time there due to the pandemic restrictions. 

The hardest part of my job there was not any task in particular, but just the physical exertion felt throughout the day. While under the greenhouse glass in the summer the heat can be felt so having a good insulated water bottle made my days much easier. The most enjoyable part of the job for me was simply being able to move and spend much of my time either outside or with the plants. It was a nice and necessary escape from being locking in the house for months on end. Its tough physical work but if you have the work ethic and enjoy working outside this is the place for you. 

I found staffing to be uneven - either you had too many hours or not enough and there were too many people on (not enough to do) or too few (run off your feet).   Terra is very seasonal so they hire a lot of people to cover the May rush and then in mid June hours are cut back and people are laid off - the people considered the best fit are kept (just like a 3 month probation period).  If you have a summer job -this would be a great “filler” until it starts.  
Department management varies by day and by department but was generally good.  They are very knowledgeable about plants and happy to share information.  
Being retail, pay is minimum wage and the hours vary each week.  Hours aren’t usually posted until the Friday before but during busy times it often isn’t until Saturday or Sunday which is incredibly inconvenient.  Also, quite frequently you had to work both days on the weekend for a number of weeks in a row.  There is a staff discount but unfortunately wages are low and pricing high so most things were too expensive - having to work over an hour to pay for a plant doesn’t really make sense.  Related to that,  staff are required to purchase an expensive uniform shirt. -it takes about 3 hours of work to pay for a shirt which is ridiculous - especially if you are hired and laid off after the May rush.  Sometimes, people would be sent home if it was slower - devastating if you are counting on the money from a full shift.

It seems the best part of most jobs are the coworkers you work with and that stands true with this place. 
The management has poor communication with eachother and the staff. It seems like they were never on the same page. They often left the supervisors to their own devices to figure out what they must do which sometimes resulted in redoing something or doing something just for busy work. 
The job is very labor intensive, alot of bending over and picking up, repeative movements which often leave you sore the next day. For certain jobs they have rolly chairs that could be used, but some of the management frowned upon staff who wanted to use the chairs to prevent sore back the next day. You would often get told this is not a sitting down job, and so your forced to be  bending over to do the job rather than do the job from a chair. They did not care about what hurts you in the long run. They just wanted the job done at the expense of your pain and soreness. And for how labor intensive it was, minimum wage is too low for what they want. 
The heat in the summer time is very brutal as well, especially when you have to wear a mask working the heat in the greenhouses is very uncomfortable. But the owner when it would get really hot would supply Gatorade and freezes for all the staff. 
Overall, I liked the staff, I liked the Monday to Friday set schedule 730 till 4 and learning about the plants.

So far my employment in terra has been very disappointing. When I was hired as a seasonal cashier, I was promised full time hours until the end of summer, and unfortunately that has not been the case. By the end of May, mine and almost everyone’s shifts in my department were cut down to 10-20 hours a week. In many other departments, the seasonal workers who were promised full time summer hours, were being laid off entirely. I later found out that terra does this every year in order to hire enough student for the month of May. 
I also found this unfair because Terra requires you to purchase a $35 uniform shirt, and expensive (on average $100) steel toe shoes. 
Management is also unorganized there. As a cashier I have had to stay 2 hours past close on multiple occasions due to the disorganization of my mangers and the stores polices. Also, I have come to realize that corporate has little consideration towards there employees. Many problems throughout the store that employees have complained about for many years have yet to be fixed. Management is aware of these problems, but would rather try and make the store “look good” than to take employees into consideration. 
Overall, Terra has been one of the worst jobs I have had so far, and I will not be working there again next summer.

Terra Milton is a great place to work at. They are very welcoming and willing to help you no matter what! They offer training and opportunity for growth in various departments.

The employees are kind, motivated, energetic and helpful. Terra is a great opportunity to learn more about gardening and develop important skills! Even though your working, it is a rather fun workplace, there is never a dull moment with your co-workers.

Management is incredibly understanding and approachable towards all of their workers, they ensure to accommodate them as best as they can. They are also very flexible with schedules too. Hard work won't ever go unnoticed. Terra appreciates those employees that work hard!

I honestly have zero complaints about Terra Milton... I highly recommend working part/full-time here. It is a very comfortable and fun workplace, a great chance to learn new things about gardening and has been a great opportunity to develop communication and collaborative skills. 

The store manager and the regional managers were very enthusiastic and supportive. Assistant managers were hit and miss depending on the personality of the individuals but this can happen anywhere.
Working outside obviously had its pros and cons with the weather.

I loved being there in the morning with the plants before it got really busy and the heat came on.

All employees are treated as seasonal workers as far as holiday pay etc is concerned even full time, they work all holidays especially during busy season.

Department and store managers are employed permanent full time, year round, but department managers are asked upon hiring to sign agreement to work overtime during busy season but not get paid time and a half.

Employees are required to buy their own shirt (not very hot weather friendly shirt) for $30 plus buy all your work gloves, pruning tools and work boots. I found this excessive financial burden for the seasonal minimum wage employees.

Terra Greenhouses has one of the most positive, enthusiastic and energized work environments around. My role as a Greenhouse worker provides the team with physical activity and sunlight all day long. The day flies by as we are always busy and working in groups/teams; the social aspect with colleagues is another benefit! It is nice not having to be stuck inside all day long. I have learned a lot about plants and how to treat them. I find I have learned a lot on the job, however, I always feel comfortable approaching the Greenhouse manager with my questions when I am unsure about a customer's question. The entire management team is more than willing and happy to help support us as staff members. Another added bonus is the staff discount, which comes in handy on Mother's Day, Valentines Day and other holidays throughout the year. 5/5 stars.

All in all a horrible place to work. I worked at the Milton location and everyday felt like I was back in high-school. The managers want robots that they can train to do exactly what they want without questions or complaints and if you do not comply, then they cut your hours and outcast you. The store manager at Milton talks about employees to their managers and co-workers behind their backs as soon as they stop sucking up. They greatly underpay for what they expect you to do, and if you voice your concerns about pay vs workload/expectations to them, then they cut your hours. Don't have any hopes of moving up in the company unless you are willing to leave all your morals behind and kiss butt to the managers, they have no sense of loyalty as a company to their employees. Overall just a very disorganized and toxic workplace. You may find some good friends in your co-workers, but other than that there are no real benefits to working here. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Laborer 2 salaries reported	$17.60 per hour
Driver 2 salaries reported	$27.00 per hour
Department manager 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Store manager 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour
Purchasing assistant 2 salaries reported	$42,500 per year

Working at TERRA Greenhouses: company overview and reviews

TERRA Greenhouses

TERRA Greenhouses ratings

Popular jobs at TERRA Greenhouses

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected