I just retire from Kroger a few months ago as a cashier after 32 years and I rememberkroger  doing this years ago getting rid of managers and the head cashier was usually the one who did the hiring back then. Kroger has got silly few years ago. Corporate was a lot better when I started with kroger years ago they need to go back to the old ways of doing business. It used to be fun to go to work gradually it got worse. I do not regret retiring from Kroger I made it to 65 years old and over 30 years I think I was burnt out from working.

Maybe the CEOs should give back some of those million dollar bonuses  if we need to save money.  It's disheartening enough to read about those bonuses when we are lucky to get 25 cents

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Maybe the CEOs should give back some of those million dollar bonuses  if we need to save money.  It's disheartening enough to read about those bonuses when we are lucky to get 25 cents

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 You do realize that if you took those millions and divided it among the 400,000 store employees, it would only amount to a few cents more per hour, don't you?

What is the status of firing HR managers in the Local 1996 Atlanta GA area?

Question..... Why is the company so slow to roll out something new to store, but can lay down the IRON HAMMER so fast when "Restructuring"? I know Cincy/Dayton had replaced multiple District Coordinator position in the last few months. If the STR Managers were so bad, why were they not let go before? They could have done this so much easier and smoother, eliminate a few "bad" STR Managers little by little. Eliminate 1 District position each month for a few months.....

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EUID_Unknown wrote:

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Question..... Why is the company so slow to roll out something new to store, but can lay down the IRON HAMMER so fast when "Restructuring"? I know Cincy/Dayton had replaced multiple District Coordinator position in the last few months. If the STR Managers were so bad, why were they not let go before? They could have done this so much easier and smoother, eliminate a few "bad" STR Managers little by little. Eliminate 1 District position each month for a few months.....

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 Part of the problems is that some management folks (such as our store HR rep) have threatened to sue Kroger if they are let go-that is why some of them have been kept on so long

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 It would be interesting to see how a lawsuit would go, everything that was used to fire someone is subjective.  One stores could have horrible numbers, etc....but the STR Manager was saved..... I'm sure no STR Manager that was someones "Friend" was fired....

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Anonymous wrote:

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Maybe the CEOs should give back some of those million dollar bonuses  if we need to save money.  It's disheartening enough to read about those bonuses when we are lucky to get 25 cents

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 You do realize that if you took those millions and divided it among the 400,000 store employees, it would only amount to a few cents more per hour, don't you?

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 I do realize that.  My point was not to divide up that money between us.  The point was if we are in such trouble maybe they shouldn't be getting big bonuses.They already make 40 times the amount of most of us.  I don't think they will starve..

I heard rumors there is another round of firings next week (of ASMs), then later a third round.  Anyone hear anything about that?

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Our coordinator was in the other day. In the Columbus division they are reducing the number of coordinator also. He is being put back in a store as a manager.I was also told any current coordinator that has not been store leader plus have a certain degree(cant remember which one) were being bumped back into stores. Instead of there being separate coordinators for deli/bakery, produce and meat dept. all three departments will have the same coordinator.    

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The store manager firings in my area were done to clear positions for coordinators losing their jobs. Center Store, Customer 1st, and Fresh are the new positions, plus the DM. Center Store staying the same since that transition was already done. Assuming that role is taking on merchandising/ops stuff on the grocery/drug end too. HR and Front End stuff being merged into Customer 1st. All perishable coordinators merged into Fresh. Some coordinators got pick of store and the existing store manager (if not fired) is being relocated. This is consistent across all divisions, across all subsidiaries.

Under old system, you could go no higher than coordinator (excluding ops/merch ones) without a college degree. Assuming now that coordinator positions are mandatory college degree jobs, which is why some of these people got bumped back down to stores.

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Have any store HR managers been fired yet? Why can't the actual Store Manager take over that role?

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I know of at least one.

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Our coordinator was in the other day. In the Columbus division they are reducing the number of coordinator also. He is being put back in a store as a manager.I was also told any current coordinator that has not been store leader plus have a certain degree(cant remember which one) were being bumped back into stores. Instead of there being separate coordinators for deli/bakery, produce and meat dept. all three departments will have the same coordinator.    

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Our coordinator already (supposedly) does deli/bakery/cheese shop/starbucks, but really she only stays in the bakery 99.9% of the time. Occasionally (maybe once every few months) she'll leave the bakery to come over to yell at you. We have assistant coordinators that mostly run the show in the deli and cheese shop.. Starbucks is kind of on its own. If we add in meat department and produce and reduce the coordinators, I don't think my store will manage well.

One ASM who survived the cuts walked into SM office and threw store keys on desk. Said I'm done with this **** and I'm not working my two weeks and walked out. 

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This cartoon is similar to many of you at Kroger.  You have no clue what you're going to do if/when Kroger goes out of business or you lose your job:

Like Wile E. Coyote, what are you going to finally do after you have been working at Kroger for 20 years and you aren't trained for anything else?

 

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What to do? I've had the opportunity to work for three different stores/chains over the years...So, I know what it's like on both sides of the fence, union and non-union...Union is definitely better and the benefits are a big part of it (Stores know this, which is why they have to keep upping each other on benefits to retain the best people or risk redundancy and stagnation), but one has to do what one has to do and that's exactly what I've done...If you don't realize chains come and go, YOU HAVEN'T WORKED IN RETAIL LONG ENOUGH! And the last chain I worked for was around a long time, too, before they went under! This is why corporate people suck! They just go from one thing to the next without blinking, because they don't have to worry about getting paid or whether they have enough to cover bills, medical expenses, mortgages, rents, etc. They are always taken care of, while the rest of the 99 percenters have to struggle just to make ends meet and are left behind in the dust when the corporate people retire or move on...And all this stuff about "You people at Kroger"? Well, honestly, in this day and age, I don't know what job you have, but whatever it is, YOUR JOB will be next! There is no loyalty to workers anymore ANYWHERE! PERIOD!!! The bottom line of all these companies means nothing to me, because it AVOIDS the bigger picture! Too many people out there without enough DECENT, LIVABLE WAGE jobs for all of them (and more being born every minute!)...and not everyone is destined/has the skillset for the same things...The divide between the rich and the poor keeps growing year after year and will only get wider in the years to come! You're deceiving yourself if you think THAT will change!

Another thought to think about...We have to make Kroger into a "food destination" where people WANT to go...Places like cider mills, ice cream parlors and local hamburger joints may have their troubles from time to time, but people still keep going there year after year because they are "food destinations" worth going to! They are tourist havens even...And many of them are still small enough that some corporate entity hasn't gobbled them up and f'ed with what made them great in the first place! All these chains and stores keep getting bigger and bigger and as they get bigger, it gets harder and harder to control/police them from getting out of hand...The balance is thrown WAYYY out of proportion! And with all the competition out there, much of it cutthroat, it seems NO entity anymore is too big to fail! It's just a matter of HOW and WHEN...But then, there will always be another one coming...There always has been...There always will be!

As regards to Wile E. Coyote, he'll just find something ELSE to eat...What can I say??? Hunger makes you do strange things sometimes...

The second will be running our store for six weeks until we get our new store manager. Two weeks schedule written. Two weeks vacation. Two weeks on the current schedule.  This company treats it's employees like cra-p. 

There's been such a shake up that they don't even know who to contact or who's in charge of doing what probably. I mean, every period they do this new "district manager challenge" and yet.... we changed up districts in the middle of the period? So we don't have any updated results yet... it's all very strange right now. Like this was so sudden, but yet seemed planned, but yet it's not.

A particular Cincinnati area Kroger store I frequent has the same crowded parking lot all of the time.  The lot is always "sold-out".

The same manager pictures are up in the lobby.  Does that simply mean no one has taken the time to take down the fired manager pictures?

Is it safe to say that some stores did NOT have any managers being released?

It was all based on sales. Some went down to one SM and one ASM. Some went to one SM and two ASM's. The highest sales (mostly Marketplace) got to keep the same number. Majority lost at least one manager, (the ASM or Co as they are called). Manager reshuffling because some stores had more managers fired in that location than others. Also, there have been a lot of managers just quitting in the last six months so they had already lost quite a few and less people to fire.

Still waiting to see what the final numbers will be. From the layoff site, it looks like some of the Kroger companies not named Kroger in other states will be having their meetings this week and firings will continue. 

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But we're all gonna be shipshape and ready for the holidays right guys? I mean... it's ONLY October 6th. We've got PLENTY of time to get everything straight and in order before Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years.

No way they'd do this major shake-up so close to the holidays if they didn't have a plan!!

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 I don't see this affecting the individual departments and their ability to order holiday product.

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The coordinators are the positions to eliminate. All of them are useless.

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 I heard they were eliminating a lot (or all) of them too. 

 

I also heard when I got back to my store from my old co workers that the former SM was gone because he had a couple of bad store walks, so all SMs who had bad walks got knocked down to a lower volume store. 

 

I also heard that our district president will be doing more walks, and that there is a lot of pressure on the dept heads, if they get a few bad walks they could lose their position.  

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 Ha, they can barely have Department Leaders/Managers anymore, most "lifers" have stepped down or retired.  I bet most if threatened, most would tell them they would be more then happy to be a clerk and say good luck.