Trying to fill around 2,000 positions at 185 stores.
I wonder why they would have 2,000 positions open at 185 stores in the first place? Certainly couldn't be the low pay, lack of acknowledgement from management or the manipulation of the hours keeping part-timers part-time.
Nor could it be the massive responsibilities shoveled into singular positions. And I doubt that it would be the fact that Kroger uses different departments to fill-in for its Front End staff resulting in those departments backing up or having no service.
No idea why there would be 2,000 positions open at 185 stores.
And since the company now has a new hiring procedure through a new company, those 2,000 positions will be lucky to be filled - if at all - by mid-September. So if you're shopping at Kroger, good luck.
Even when those positions begin to be filled, a majority of the new employees likely won't stick around for long once they get in the stores and see what working for Kroger is really like. What these new employees are fed will not be what they see once they start working in the stores. That's what Kroger wants, though, to prevent employees from building up vacation time/personal days/better pay raises. Yet this company has no problem whatsoever blowing thousands of dollars every time it begins the hiring process for each new employee.
Last I heard my local store had 40 positions open throughout the store.
I would bet that most of those would be in Front End or indirectly related to the way Front End is run.
I worked in a store where they were 80 people short and walked out. My former coworkers said our division is about 2,500 short and no prospects citing "better markets."
The problem is too many people expect too much from a retail job. Walmart, Target, and everyone else are hungry for employees too. It's just that time of year when a lot of student associates are either going back to school and quitting Kroger or asking for dramatic availability changes. Once you finish the utter formality that is considered an "interview," you'll be asked "Is $7.XX/hr okay with you?" And that's when a lot of people mentally check out. To Kroger's credit, they cannot offer anything extra because of the union. But this pay is hardly anything shocking considering Target begins and ends their negotiation phase with $8. If you want to make more money doing unskilled work, go apply at the distribution center or a manufacturing facility. But don't start bltching when you find out that the work is back breaking and you are scheduled to work 12 hour days.
I don't know, Delta, but I do know that underneath our union contract, as a courtesy clerk I was making $7.25 and would have had to work for two years to get a raise up to $7.40. Then it caps off with no more hope for raise and definitely no hope for advancement.
isn't the ATL division the worst compensated when it comes to wages? Like, by a significant margin?
I am positive we are. There was a coworker of mine who came from another division and he was getting way more there than we got, in a cheaper, smaller city.
I don't know, Delta, but I do know that underneath our union contract, as a courtesy clerk I was making $7.25 and would have had to work for two years to get a raise up to $7.40. Then it caps off with no more hope for raise and definitely no hope for advancement.
CC's are pretty much the same in every division regarding compensation from what I've seen. Usually one raise and that's it, never more than 30-40 cents over minimum wage.
The things I've seen are like the pay structure for clerks/cashiers. If I'm not mistaken I read that full timers top out at like 11-12 an hour, which is significantly less than the 14-15 average elsewhere in lower cost of living areas. Same thing with leads only making 0.50 more an hour which is ridiculous. I don't think I've seen the pay for the main department head positions, so I'm not sure how those stack up. I've been told the only way to make a living there is getting into management. Who knows though.
And that's sad, because courtesy clerks are among the backbone of the business. Yea you got all those other divisions but it's Front End that usually ends up causing problems due to poor scheduling or hours, and as a result the rest of those divisions (departments) suffer. Courtesy Clerks are basically treated like crap in Kroger, and that's just not right. It's one of the reasons I finally left. I got tired of being looked upon as someone who could not only get stepped on but also picked up by shovel and thrown into the garbage.
Some people will say that because bagging is such a simple job and requires no skill, courtesy clerks don't deserve raises or a better pay rate than bottom pay. Yes, the job responsibilities are relatively simple, but courtesy clerks are a big part of the customer experience and do impact how the customer rates the store in the survey and whether or not the customer comes back and/or spreads good word of mouth about the store. It's not just about bagging their groceries with care and making sure the groceries are loaded into their shopping cart in a way nothing gets damaged. It's also about offering the customer help with unloading their groceries onto the belt and offering to help load their groceries into their vehicle. Greeting customers while outside on the lot and in the foyer can make a difference too. Courtesy clerks are, a lot of times, the first and last employee a customer sees on their shopping trip and that can lead to a positive first impression/final positive note if the courtesy clerk is attentive and friendly.
Courtesy clerks keep carts inside for the customers and go out in all sorts of weather. Pushing carts may not be the most strenuous job at Kroger, but it's still rough, especially when it's snowing or raining or in the nineties or one-hundreds. That's not easy work. It doesn't take much skill, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not easy. Courtesy clerks also keep the stores clean, and that is a big job, especially in the larger stores, and customers care about whether or not there is stuff all over the foyer rug or if bathrooms are clean and stocked with supplies and if the outside area has a lot of trash or debris or cigarettes on the ground.
A lot is expected of courtesy clerks and I know not all of them are good at what they do, but the good ones? They definitely play an important role in the customer experience and keeping the store looking good. The good ones deserve better pay and they should be able to get it without having to "move up" because, you know, maybe they enjoy what they do and would like to keep doing it, rather than being chained to a register or behind a service desk or in another department.
Some people will say that because bagging is such a simple job and requires no skill, courtesy clerks don't deserve raises or a better pay rate than bottom pay. Yes, the job responsibilities are relatively simple, but courtesy clerks are a big part of the customer experience and do impact how the customer rates the store in the survey and whether or not the customer comes back and/or spreads good word of mouth about the store. It's not just about bagging their groceries with care and making sure the groceries are loaded into their shopping cart in a way nothing gets damaged. It's also about offering the customer help with unloading their groceries onto the belt and offering to help load their groceries into their vehicle. Greeting customers while outside on the lot and in the foyer can make a difference too. Courtesy clerks are, a lot of times, the first and last employee a customer sees on their shopping trip and that can lead to a positive first impression/final positive note if the courtesy clerk is attentive and friendly.
Courtesy clerks keep carts inside for the customers and go out in all sorts of weather. Pushing carts may not be the most strenuous job at Kroger, but it's still rough, especially when it's snowing or raining or in the nineties or one-hundreds. That's not easy work. It doesn't take much skill, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not easy. Courtesy clerks also keep the stores clean, and that is a big job, especially in the larger stores, and customers care about whether or not there is stuff all over the foyer rug or if bathrooms are clean and stocked with supplies and if the outside area has a lot of trash or debris or cigarettes on the ground.
A lot is expected of courtesy clerks and I know not all of them are good at what they do, but the good ones? They definitely play an important role in the customer experience and keeping the store looking good. The good ones deserve better pay and they should be able to get it without having to "move up" because, you know, maybe they enjoy what they do and would like to keep doing it, rather than being chained to a register or behind a service desk or in another department.
Some people will say that because bagging is such a simple job and requires no skill, courtesy clerks don't deserve raises or a better pay rate than bottom pay. Yes, the job responsibilities are relatively simple, but courtesy clerks are a big part of the customer experience and do impact how the customer rates the store in the survey and whether or not the customer comes back and/or spreads good word of mouth about the store. It's not just about bagging their groceries with care and making sure the groceries are loaded into their shopping cart in a way nothing gets damaged. It's also about offering the customer help with unloading their groceries onto the belt and offering to help load their groceries into their vehicle. Greeting customers while outside on the lot and in the foyer can make a difference too. Courtesy clerks are, a lot of times, the first and last employee a customer sees on their shopping trip and that can lead to a positive first impression/final positive note if the courtesy clerk is attentive and friendly.
Courtesy clerks keep carts inside for the customers and go out in all sorts of weather. Pushing carts may not be the most strenuous job at Kroger, but it's still rough, especially when it's snowing or raining or in the nineties or one-hundreds. That's not easy work. It doesn't take much skill, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not easy. Courtesy clerks also keep the stores clean, and that is a big job, especially in the larger stores, and customers care about whether or not there is stuff all over the foyer rug or if bathrooms are clean and stocked with supplies and if the outside area has a lot of trash or debris or cigarettes on the ground.
A lot is expected of courtesy clerks and I know not all of them are good at what they do, but the good ones? They definitely play an important role in the customer experience and keeping the store looking good. The good ones deserve better pay and they should be able to get it without having to "move up" because, you know, maybe they enjoy what they do and would like to keep doing it, rather than being chained to a register or behind a service desk or in another department.
Lol
As I said, not all courtesy clerks do what they are supposed to do, but the ones that do are hard workers and take on quite a bit for minimum wage. It's also about connecting with the customer, and a courtesy clerk that's good at that can have a real positive impact on the customer.
You have lazy and immature people in every department, not just the front end.
Kroger also hires a lot of people with disabilities for the courtesy clerk positions which I'm sure they get some type of tax break for. So they are not only saving money by not paying them well, they are also getting a tax break.
