I was looking at the vacation list in the break room and we have it listed seniority and how many weeks they have available. On this list they have 1 beside the most senior employee and a total number of employees in the store. Last year we had right at 100. The year before close to 110. This year, 80. That's nearly a 20% drop in the past year.
We've only recently hired a handful for the front end and in my department, the deli, we've only hired 2 new people since October. ON the other hand we've lost 7. But management says we don't have the sales to put hours in or schedule enough help. Hell were a high volume store, for our area anyway, but we won't hire anyone? What the hell!!!!!
I was looking at the vacation list in the break room and we have it listed seniority and how many weeks they have available. On this list they have 1 beside the most senior employee and a total number of employees in the store. Last year we had right at 100. The year before close to 110. This year, 80. That's nearly a 20% drop in the past year.
We've only recently hired a handful for the front end and in my department, the deli, we've only hired 2 new people since October. ON the other hand we've lost 7. But management says we don't have the sales to put hours in or schedule enough help. Hell were a high volume store, for our area anyway, but we won't hire anyone? What the hell!!!!!
Ran't over, have a good one!
I know it doesn't make you feel any better, but it's not just your store. Today, for example, was absolutely ridiculous. It being President's Day and thus people being off work/school, you'd think Kroger would take this into account. Of course not. That would make too much sense. Instead, only have two cashiers during mid afternoon and bug the rest of the store to surge check/bag. You know it's bad when there are eight registers open, and out of the eight, only two are manned by "scheduled" cashiers, while the other as a FES, two others have co-managers on them, the rest have surge help and the store manager is bagging along with people from other departments. Dumb, dumb... and, oh, CHEAP! Can't forget that one. Penny-pinching cheapskates...
Of course corporate is going to keep the stores understaffed and not hire any more people. That would cut into those precious bonuses and bloated salaries. In other words, screw the employee, screw the customer or screw the customer, screw the employee. Take your pick on which one comes first.
We're over $600,000 a week, and today we have a snowstorm coming with the milk wiped out. And with nearly 2 feet of snow being called for, they still expected departments to come up front. Half the store couldn't make it in today. When the store first opened they had around 150 employees.
Here's what's stupid. We got in several cases of paczki donuts and materials for making king cakes for Mardi Gras. I asked the bakery manager if we were going to get any extra hours for making all that extra stuff. She said, "No, first you make the stuff with what limited time you have. Then, after you sell it, they give you the extra hours two weeks later when you don't need them."
We struggle with 4 people manning the deli. The other day, it was me and someone else from 3 until closing. It was busy as well. If anyone that normally closes calls out sick, it's worse, especially since no full-timer ever wants to close (but they LOOOOOVE to complain if something isn't done).
It's cheaper not to hire anyone else, but seriously, Kroger ain't hurting for cash.
I was looking at the vacation list in the break room and we have it listed seniority and how many weeks they have available. On this list they have 1 beside the most senior employee and a total number of employees in the store. Last year we had right at 100. The year before close to 110. This year, 80. That's nearly a 20% drop in the past year.
We've only recently hired a handful for the front end and in my department, the deli, we've only hired 2 new people since October. ON the other hand we've lost 7. But management says we don't have the sales to put hours in or schedule enough help. Hell were a high volume store, for our area anyway, but we won't hire anyone? What the hell!!!!!
Ran't over, have a good one!
I know it doesn't make you feel any better, but it's not just your store. Today, for example, was absolutely ridiculous. It being President's Day and thus people being off work/school, you'd think Kroger would take this into account. Of course not. That would make too much sense. Instead, only have two cashiers during mid afternoon and bug the rest of the store to surge check/bag. You know it's bad when there are eight registers open, and out of the eight, only two are manned by "scheduled" cashiers, while the other as a FES, two others have co-managers on them, the rest have surge help and the store manager is bagging along with people from other departments. Dumb, dumb... and, oh, CHEAP! Can't forget that one. Penny-pinching cheapskates...
Of course corporate is going to keep the stores understaffed and not hire any more people. That would cut into those precious bonuses and bloated salaries. In other words, screw the employee, screw the customer or screw the customer, screw the employee. Take your pick on which one comes first.
They wont hire more people until they feel like it. Everyone comes "second" to the upper management!
600k with 80 employees is not many at all. We do about 520 and we have right at 100 and looking to hire a few more. A lot of those are tied up in minors who constantly have tons of unavailability. I've seen our minor employment % increase a ton over the past year or so. But especially in overnight help, it's a growing problem across the division. I was talking with our coordinator the other day and it's so much of an issue to hire and retain decent help that they're unsure what to do. The obvious answer to that would be to increase wages and minimum hours during that shift. Working graveyard for 7.xx an hour 12-16 hours a week is pointless.
600k with 80 employees is not many at all. We do about 520 and we have right at 100 and looking to hire a few more. A lot of those are tied up in minors who constantly have tons of unavailability. I've seen our minor employment % increase a ton over the past year or so. But especially in overnight help, it's a growing problem across the division. I was talking with our coordinator the other day and it's so much of an issue to hire and retain decent help that they're unsure what to do. The obvious answer to that would be to increase wages and minimum hours during that shift. Working graveyard for 7.xx an hour 12-16 hours a week is pointless.
The solution to the hiring dilemma is simple. Make Kroger a place people can and want to apply for work. Right now, I know in my division, just as in yours (and in others, I'm sure), more minors are applying for work than any other age group. Minors and college students are what you primarily see. Problem with that though is, you're looking at all sort of availability restrictions, and also too, the company is only allowed to employ so many minors at a time. A good number of these minors and college students don't even stick around past the first week or month. I've seen it happen not just on the front end, but produce too, and even grocery and drug/GM.
The thing is, the pay is just so poor that no adult on his or her own is going to want or be financially able to take a job at Kroger. The starting pay is bad ($7.35 an hour... not just front end, but produce and deli too? Not much better for the other departments either in my state)., the raises are atrocious and the hours are unreliable. Minors don't need the money if they're just working for some spending money and might be totally okay with say ten hours a week.
Corporate needs to want to make Kroger a place people want to not just shop at, but work at, too. Start out by paying a decent hourly wage, at the very minimum, $9.00, so people will apply. Raise the hourly pay, but raise the expectations too and hold employees accountable. This way, the company gets its money's worth and you don't have courtesy clerks hiding in the bathrooms, two or three drug/GM clerks chatting away down the promo aisle or people in the bakery not performing their closing duties like they should be. Get more people in these stores so you don't have a skeleton crew that's always stressed out and doesn't want to give 100%. Kroger needs Costco's problem. Kroger needs Aldi's problem. Kroger needs WinCo's and H-E-B's problems. What are those problems? Dozens upon dozens of applications for every individual job opening. These are all growing, flourishing companies... employees are (generally) happy there, and customers are (generally) happy there, and I know corporate sees that because more than once I've heard the company is "concerned" about these competitors gaining ground... so perhaps it's time to do something about that, and that something starts with the employees. Start treating the employees better, and your employees will treat the customers better and stick around longer, which in turn leads to a more stable, productive and reliable workforce capable of moving the company forward.
Never going to happen, though. If the company hasn't realized this by now, then the company clearly doesn't care and is totally okay with blowing thousands of dollars on career fairs, background and drug tests, only to have a majority of those employees last maybe a month. I'm sure they've crunched the numbers and concluded this is the best way to safeguard their current salaries, bonuses and earnings per share. To hell with the future of the company, apparently. Milk it for what it's worth today.
600k with 80 employees is not many at all. We do about 520 and we have right at 100 and looking to hire a few more. A lot of those are tied up in minors who constantly have tons of unavailability. I've seen our minor employment % increase a ton over the past year or so. But especially in overnight help, it's a growing problem across the division. I was talking with our coordinator the other day and it's so much of an issue to hire and retain decent help that they're unsure what to do. The obvious answer to that would be to increase wages and minimum hours during that shift. Working graveyard for 7.xx an hour 12-16 hours a week is pointless.
Yup. Same here and I am in a different state. All stores in my division are struggling with night workers. The good ones don't stay around. The one's that do stay are slow pokes. I am in a 1.5m store with fuel station.
I figure, Pay me OT now or pay me later. I'll get the job done but I am not going to work at 150-200% of what the DDP expects while everyone else is working at 50-%. It is not my job to police my coworkers. My job is to make sure I am doing what the DDP says is possible. It is the night managers and the back-up job to make production happen.
Example: Truck was 1669 cases grocery & peyton. 7 workers. I ran 28% of stock(469 cases) in the canned veggie aisle(hardest aisle in store). Everyone should have been doing 15% of the truck each.
The back-up here doesn't take his breaks just so he can get more work done. He's just wearing himself out. He said I could stay 9.5 hours the other day. I clocked out at that time. Then, he had 15 more minutes of work for me. I would have taken another break if I had known I would be working 10 hours. I think he was trying to keep me from taking that last break. I do not like working 9.75 hours.
The minor/college student thing is a huge thing too. Besides me, there is only one other person with truly open availability. This puts me at night shift every time I work because we have too many who can't work night shift (or won't--mainly fulltimers who think they're too good for closing shift). This is fine and dandy if we had more than 2 people, but alas, they can't get anyone with open availability or who isn't a minor. I've been here only 6 months, but I'm worn down. I've never had a job that has worn me down this much. So I'm looking for something else.
They're focused on the small things, but completely disregarding the big things--the happiness of the employee.
600k with 80 employees is not many at all. We do about 520 and we have right at 100 and looking to hire a few more. A lot of those are tied up in minors who constantly have tons of unavailability. I've seen our minor employment % increase a ton over the past year or so. But especially in overnight help, it's a growing problem across the division. I was talking with our coordinator the other day and it's so much of an issue to hire and retain decent help that they're unsure what to do. The obvious answer to that would be to increase wages and minimum hours during that shift. Working graveyard for 7.xx an hour 12-16 hours a week is pointless.
The solution to the hiring dilemma is simple. Make Kroger a place people can and want to apply for work. Right now, I know in my division, just as in yours (and in others, I'm sure), more minors are applying for work than any other age group. Minors and college students are what you primarily see. Problem with that though is, you're looking at all sort of availability restrictions, and also too, the company is only allowed to employ so many minors at a time. A good number of these minors and college students don't even stick around past the first week or month. I've seen it happen not just on the front end, but produce too, and even grocery and drug/GM.
The thing is, the pay is just so poor that no adult on his or her own is going to want or be financially able to take a job at Kroger. The starting pay is bad ($7.35 an hour... not just front end, but produce and deli too? Not much better for the other departments either in my state)., the raises are atrocious and the hours are unreliable. Minors don't need the money if they're just working for some spending money and might be totally okay with say ten hours a week.
Corporate needs to want to make Kroger a place people want to not just shop at, but work at, too. Start out by paying a decent hourly wage, at the very minimum, $9.00, so people will apply. Raise the hourly pay, but raise the expectations too and hold employees accountable. This way, the company gets its money's worth and you don't have courtesy clerks hiding in the bathrooms, two or three drug/GM clerks chatting away down the promo aisle or people in the bakery not performing their closing duties like they should be. Get more people in these stores so you don't have a skeleton crew that's always stressed out and doesn't want to give 100%. Kroger needs Costco's problem. Kroger needs Aldi's problem. Kroger needs WinCo's and H-E-B's problems. What are those problems? Dozens upon dozens of applications for every individual job opening. These are all growing, flourishing companies... employees are (generally) happy there, and customers are (generally) happy there, and I know corporate sees that because more than once I've heard the company is "concerned" about these competitors gaining ground... so perhaps it's time to do something about that, and that something starts with the employees. Start treating the employees better, and your employees will treat the customers better and stick around longer, which in turn leads to a more stable, productive and reliable workforce capable of moving the company forward.
Never going to happen, though. If the company hasn't realized this by now, then the company clearly doesn't care and is totally okay with blowing thousands of dollars on career fairs, background and drug tests, only to have a majority of those employees last maybe a month. I'm sure they've crunched the numbers and concluded this is the best way to safeguard their current salaries, bonuses and earnings per share. To hell with the future of the company, apparently. Milk it for what it's worth today.
No one will stay with the wage of 7.35 and a 5 cent raise for long. With the schedule being made weekly you cant plan for anything and you can have depending on your store 20 hrs one week and 13 the next. With a work environment where communication is poor, training if you are lucky to have someone "train"you so you understand what you are doing rather than being thrown in a department. If you DARE to ask questions you get looked at like your and idiot but how will you learn if a person does have questions about their job and NO ONE will answer them. Keep increasing work loads on people when some departments dont have enough workers and they wonder why they cant get their work done.
I would chuckle to myself when i would past the conference room and see their little plans from meeting with their "motivational slogans" on them. Sad that a company will take so much from employees and never give anything back. As long as they get bonuses and money those people on the floor busting their butts will NEVER get their due. More will leave and if its hurts this company so be it they have shown they arent going to change ANYTHING!!!
The minor issue is a big one outside of the front end. Produce/Dairy clerks can't dispose of their cardboard or use the trash compactor due to age limitations on the machines. This means unnecessary pileup and work on others. I can't tell you how many times I've had to throw a heaping pile of produce boxes into the baler when I get to work. You can bet that other departments aren't given hours for those tasks.
600k with 80 employees is not many at all. We do about 520 and we have right at 100 and looking to hire a few more. A lot of those are tied up in minors who constantly have tons of unavailability. I've seen our minor employment % increase a ton over the past year or so. But especially in overnight help, it's a growing problem across the division. I was talking with our coordinator the other day and it's so much of an issue to hire and retain decent help that they're unsure what to do. The obvious answer to that would be to increase wages and minimum hours during that shift. Working graveyard for 7.xx an hour 12-16 hours a week is pointless.
The solution to the hiring dilemma is simple. Make Kroger a place people can and want to apply for work. Right now, I know in my division, just as in yours (and in others, I'm sure), more minors are applying for work than any other age group. Minors and college students are what you primarily see. Problem with that though is, you're looking at all sort of availability restrictions, and also too, the company is only allowed to employ so many minors at a time. A good number of these minors and college students don't even stick around past the first week or month. I've seen it happen not just on the front end, but produce too, and even grocery and drug/GM.
The thing is, the pay is just so poor that no adult on his or her own is going to want or be financially able to take a job at Kroger. The starting pay is bad ($7.35 an hour... not just front end, but produce and deli too? Not much better for the other departments either in my state)., the raises are atrocious and the hours are unreliable. Minors don't need the money if they're just working for some spending money and might be totally okay with say ten hours a week.
Corporate needs to want to make Kroger a place people want to not just shop at, but work at, too. Start out by paying a decent hourly wage, at the very minimum, $9.00, so people will apply. Raise the hourly pay, but raise the expectations too and hold employees accountable. This way, the company gets its money's worth and you don't have courtesy clerks hiding in the bathrooms, two or three drug/GM clerks chatting away down the promo aisle or people in the bakery not performing their closing duties like they should be. Get more people in these stores so you don't have a skeleton crew that's always stressed out and doesn't want to give 100%. Kroger needs Costco's problem. Kroger needs Aldi's problem. Kroger needs WinCo's and H-E-B's problems. What are those problems? Dozens upon dozens of applications for every individual job opening. These are all growing, flourishing companies... employees are (generally) happy there, and customers are (generally) happy there, and I know corporate sees that because more than once I've heard the company is "concerned" about these competitors gaining ground... so perhaps it's time to do something about that, and that something starts with the employees. Start treating the employees better, and your employees will treat the customers better and stick around longer, which in turn leads to a more stable, productive and reliable workforce capable of moving the company forward.
Never going to happen, though. If the company hasn't realized this by now, then the company clearly doesn't care and is totally okay with blowing thousands of dollars on career fairs, background and drug tests, only to have a majority of those employees last maybe a month. I'm sure they've crunched the numbers and concluded this is the best way to safeguard their current salaries, bonuses and earnings per share. To hell with the future of the company, apparently. Milk it for what it's worth today.
No one will stay with the wage of 7.35 and a 5 cent raise for long. With the schedule being made weekly you cant plan for anything and you can have depending on your store 20 hrs one week and 13 the next. With a work environment where communication is poor, training if you are lucky to have someone "train"you so you understand what you are doing rather than being thrown in a department. If you DARE to ask questions you get looked at like your and idiot but how will you learn if a person does have questions about their job and NO ONE will answer them. Keep increasing work loads on people when some departments dont have enough workers and they wonder why they cant get their work done.
I would chuckle to myself when i would past the conference room and see their little plans from meeting with their "motivational slogans" on them. Sad that a company will take so much from employees and never give anything back. As long as they get bonuses and money those people on the floor busting their butts will NEVER get their due. More will leave and if its hurts this company so be it they have shown they arent going to change ANYTHING!!!
Are you okay, comfortable with me standing up and applauding you?
Screw it, I don't care if you are or not, I'm still going to do it.
600k with 80 employees is not many at all. We do about 520 and we have right at 100 and looking to hire a few more. A lot of those are tied up in minors who constantly have tons of unavailability. I've seen our minor employment % increase a ton over the past year or so. But especially in overnight help, it's a growing problem across the division. I was talking with our coordinator the other day and it's so much of an issue to hire and retain decent help that they're unsure what to do. The obvious answer to that would be to increase wages and minimum hours during that shift. Working graveyard for 7.xx an hour 12-16 hours a week is pointless.
The solution to the hiring dilemma is simple. Make Kroger a place people can and want to apply for work. Right now, I know in my division, just as in yours (and in others, I'm sure), more minors are applying for work than any other age group. Minors and college students are what you primarily see. Problem with that though is, you're looking at all sort of availability restrictions, and also too, the company is only allowed to employ so many minors at a time. A good number of these minors and college students don't even stick around past the first week or month. I've seen it happen not just on the front end, but produce too, and even grocery and drug/GM.
The thing is, the pay is just so poor that no adult on his or her own is going to want or be financially able to take a job at Kroger. The starting pay is bad ($7.35 an hour... not just front end, but produce and deli too? Not much better for the other departments either in my state)., the raises are atrocious and the hours are unreliable. Minors don't need the money if they're just working for some spending money and might be totally okay with say ten hours a week.
Corporate needs to want to make Kroger a place people want to not just shop at, but work at, too. Start out by paying a decent hourly wage, at the very minimum, $9.00, so people will apply. Raise the hourly pay, but raise the expectations too and hold employees accountable. This way, the company gets its money's worth and you don't have courtesy clerks hiding in the bathrooms, two or three drug/GM clerks chatting away down the promo aisle or people in the bakery not performing their closing duties like they should be. Get more people in these stores so you don't have a skeleton crew that's always stressed out and doesn't want to give 100%. Kroger needs Costco's problem. Kroger needs Aldi's problem. Kroger needs WinCo's and H-E-B's problems. What are those problems? Dozens upon dozens of applications for every individual job opening. These are all growing, flourishing companies... employees are (generally) happy there, and customers are (generally) happy there, and I know corporate sees that because more than once I've heard the company is "concerned" about these competitors gaining ground... so perhaps it's time to do something about that, and that something starts with the employees. Start treating the employees better, and your employees will treat the customers better and stick around longer, which in turn leads to a more stable, productive and reliable workforce capable of moving the company forward.
Never going to happen, though. If the company hasn't realized this by now, then the company clearly doesn't care and is totally okay with blowing thousands of dollars on career fairs, background and drug tests, only to have a majority of those employees last maybe a month. I'm sure they've crunched the numbers and concluded this is the best way to safeguard their current salaries, bonuses and earnings per share. To hell with the future of the company, apparently. Milk it for what it's worth today.
No one will stay with the wage of 7.35 and a 5 cent raise for long. With the schedule being made weekly you cant plan for anything and you can have depending on your store 20 hrs one week and 13 the next. With a work environment where communication is poor, training if you are lucky to have someone "train"you so you understand what you are doing rather than being thrown in a department. If you DARE to ask questions you get looked at like your and idiot but how will you learn if a person does have questions about their job and NO ONE will answer them. Keep increasing work loads on people when some departments dont have enough workers and they wonder why they cant get their work done.
I would chuckle to myself when i would past the conference room and see their little plans from meeting with their "motivational slogans" on them. Sad that a company will take so much from employees and never give anything back. As long as they get bonuses and money those people on the floor busting their butts will NEVER get their due. More will leave and if its hurts this company so be it they have shown they arent going to change ANYTHING!!!
Are you okay, comfortable with me standing up and applauding you?
Screw it, I don't care if you are or not, I'm still going to do it.
