We are now in a time many are calling "The Great Resignation"...Many people are leaving restaurant, retail, factory, school and hospital jobs in DROVES...They are sick and tired of being sick and tired...There have been many talks of strikes in recent weeks...Think John Deere, Kellogg's, Kaiser Permanente, etc. There was almost a walkout in Hollywood with the behind-the-scenes crews that would have affected many of your favorite TV shows...

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/enoughs-enough-tight-us-job-market-triggers-strikes-more-pay-2021-10-18/

Kellogg's last year did $500,000,000 in sales and yet, their workers are working longer hours with piddly pay...

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/10/were-not-budging-kellogg-strike-hits-two-week-mark.html

What's very interesting is that they have a contract with Wal-Mart to produce so much cereal by a certain deadline, and if the workers are going to stay on strike, how will that deadline be met???

https://wdet.org/posts/2021/10/18/91557-union-strike-against-kelloggs-enters-third-week-as-company-vows-to-keep-cereal-on-store-shelves/

More people are joining unions, too, and it will probably be a matter of time before Amazon workers do the same thing or walk out...

People are even leaving our company...I  know of two co-managers who have left to work for another smaller company instead of sticking it out...Amazon is worse, but they are waiting in the wings ready to poach as many of these quitting workers as they can and treat them as badly as they can...THAT is not the answer! We've had two produce workers leave for other departments, several Clicklist people either quit or get fired...and walked out with no hesitation! A meat guy who was censured after he full on quit, which makes no sense at all, because he already quit the job...Another dairy guy up and quit and this is all within a labor shortage, which you think this company would do anything to keep their best people, being it's REALLY HARD right now to find qualified candidates...Our HR person says it's very hard to find good people...The ones that look promising and are perky and excited at first end up telling the HR person that Kroger is only a stepping stone to the next thing...They don't make good candidates because they're not looking for longevity with Kroger, but just to float from job to job, climbing the ladder to success in different companies...They think the grass is greener on the other side, but that isn't always the case...In related news, a customer told me that a nearby Kroger was having to have STORE MANAGERS running registers and stocking shelves because they just cannot get enough workers to keep things afloat at that location...A co-manager confirmed that this will only get worse as time, the labor shortage and this pandemic drags on...

And they said that the end of unemployment benefits would change this and people would go back to work...HA! THAT'S A LAUGH!!!

So, a few questions...Have any of you guys lost a lot of people in your departments? Are your stores replacing them with new workers or just leaving those positions unstaffed? Is there a problem finding good workers, able workers, eager workers or all of the above? What about all the workers left behind to do the jobs of the 2 or 3 people who have left??? Who is feeling the burnout??? Who has read more articles about burnout in the last few months??? How long can all of this go on and be sustainable, considering all human limitations??? it's not just our company, but it's everywhere...They say that the power is in the hands of the working majority more than their companies right now...If people don't like what they're being offered or the stress of a job, they just quit or go on strike...and it's being shown time and time again across the country...People have leverage more than ever and they're using it!

With everything that's going on, our pharmacist told us that a majority of the people signing up for the biometric screenings to get insurance have had higher-than-normal levels of elevated blood pressure...Is it any wonder??? I can imagine many of us will need BP meds, if we don't keep that in check, by the way...

Do any of you guys have similar anecdotal experiences and what are your thoughts??? What have you been hearing in your stores??? Feel free to discuss...

This is not going away any time soon, either, so I have a feeling we'll need to be prepared for what's to come and face it, folks, it will not be pretty...Anywhere!