These raises reflect a scarcer supply of workers and growing competition for them. Unemployment last month fell to 5.5%, its lowest level in nearly seven years.
And Kroger can't figure out that the reason there is a SHORTAGE of applications across the company is because people can go elsewhere and make more per hour? Why settle for $7.25 or $7.35 an hour when there's a job at Walmart or Target offering $9.00? A new Kroger Marketplace was just opened recently in my area, and one co-manager I talked to said the store manager at that Marketplace said he is royally screwed when employees that have been borrowed from other stores go back to their own stores, leaving the brand new Marketplace severely understaffed due to the fact not enough people put in applications to work there. The same co-manager said Kroger is going to "drag its feet, as usual, kicking and screaming, until it absolutely has no choice but to raise the payrate. This company is always behind, on everything, especially though when it comes to pay raises, experience pay and so on." Management, at my store at least, believes we NEED to raise the payrate, but Human Resources continues to tell management, "the pay isn't the issue" in regards to low application numbers.
Uh, YES IT IS. What a sickeningly greedy and dishonest company this is. I swear, once I'm able to quit Kroger, I'm NEVER spending a penny at any of the company's stores and I will go as far as to encourage people I know not to shop at this terrible grocery chain.
The hiring signs at my local Kroger stores have been up for a year, at least. And every month there's always one new person (new team member badge and everything) that you'll never see again.
And yes, the wages that they start off here are a joke. I told people how I ended my one year stint with Kroger at $7.45/hr. They were shocked, since they've had easier jobs that started at $8 at the most barest of it all.
A big problem is the union contracts. We collectively shot ourselves in the foot by being union. It's Kroger's perfect excuse not to raise wages.
I think you're grossly underestimating what it means to be union in today's world.
If we really, REALLY, wanted it we could get the bottom line to go up. Kroger has turned a flat "no" to increasing the starting pay while yelling, at the top of their lungs, "HEALTH INSURANCE!".
If we were willing to lose health insurance at affordable rates and cut the number of vacations and personal days then sure we could have everyone start out at $10/h.
However, with Walmart and Target increasing their base pay we now have a bargaining chip, on the table, for the next round of negotiations with the ability to point out "This is what others in our market are doing. Are you going to be competitive?"
Anything walmart and other groceries do in relation to their employees can be nothing but a good thing for us.
Big ships don't turn quickly.
__________________
Would you like fries with th... I mean, your milk in a bag?
GenesisOne wrote:I swear, once I'm able to quit Kroger, I'm NEVER spending a penny at any of the company's stores and I will go as far as to encourage people I know not to shop at this terrible grocery chain.
So the Kroger stores in my area are having ANOTHER city wide hiring event in April, and there's a big poster at my store outlining all the "benefits" of working for Kroger.
*Opportunities for Growth
*Paid Vacation
*Paid Benefits
*Flexible Hours
*Great Customers
*Job Security
No, I'm not joking about the last two. They're actually putting that on the signs now. Yeah... that's really going to attract the applications! $7.35 vs. $9.00 an hour at both Target/Walmart. But we have *GREAT* customers and you'll have *JOB SECURITY*... those twenty hour weeks at $7.35 are yours without worry!
Meanwhile, since news got out about Walmart, we've had multiple people quit and go to Walmart and a person I was talking to said according to her friend that works at Walmart, Walmart is holding orientation classes daily due to all the applications they've been receiving. Keep being stubborn Kroger and watch your stores become even more understaffed and your OSAT scores drop even more as a result. You reap what you sow.
A big problem is the union contracts. We collectively shot ourselves in the foot by being union. It's Kroger's perfect excuse not to raise wages.
I think you're grossly underestimating what it means to be union in today's world.
If we really, REALLY, wanted it we could get the bottom line to go up. Kroger has turned a flat "no" to increasing the starting pay while yelling, at the top of their lungs, "HEALTH INSURANCE!".
If we were willing to lose health insurance at affordable rates and cut the number of vacations and personal days then sure we could have everyone start out at $10/h.
However, with Walmart and Target increasing their base pay we now have a bargaining chip, on the table, for the next round of negotiations with the ability to point out "This is what others in our market are doing. Are you going to be competitive?"
Anything walmart and other groceries do in relation to their employees can be nothing but a good thing for us.
So the Kroger stores in my area are having ANOTHER city wide hiring event in April, and there's a big poster at my store outlining all the "benefits" of working for Kroger.
*Opportunities for Growth
*Paid Vacation
*Paid Benefits
*Flexible Hours
*Great Customers
*Job Security
No, I'm not joking about the last two. They're actually putting that on the signs now. Yeah... that's really going to attract the applications! $7.35 vs. $9.00 an hour at both Target/Walmart. But we have *GREAT* customers and you'll have *JOB SECURITY*... those twenty hour weeks at $7.35 are yours without worry!
Meanwhile, since news got out about Walmart, we've had multiple people quit and go to Walmart and a person I was talking to said according to her friend that works at Walmart, Walmart is holding orientation classes daily due to all the applications they've been receiving. Keep being stubborn Kroger and watch your stores become even more understaffed and your OSAT scores drop even more as a result. You reap what you sow.
Great Customers???!!! Well were not as bad as wally world, but common. Most folks get drawn in by the bennies and then when they figure out it gonna take forever to get it they bounce.
Saw a blog post on greatpeople from an HR person bemoaning their turnover. There great plan is to send people who quit a survey. Apparently they can't figure this out. Manager told me yesterday we don't have enough people to run the hours were suppose to have. They won't bother to hire off the street unless its for front end or deli. I working in produce and have been racking up OT. Nevermind I'm still getting lectures about this and that.
So the Kroger stores in my area are having ANOTHER city wide hiring event in April, and there's a big poster at my store outlining all the "benefits" of working for Kroger.
*Opportunities for Growth
*Paid Vacation
*Paid Benefits
*Flexible Hours
*Great Customers
*Job Security
No, I'm not joking about the last two. They're actually putting that on the signs now. Yeah... that's really going to attract the applications! $7.35 vs. $9.00 an hour at both Target/Walmart. But we have *GREAT* customers and you'll have *JOB SECURITY*... those twenty hour weeks at $7.35 are yours without worry!
Meanwhile, since news got out about Walmart, we've had multiple people quit and go to Walmart and a person I was talking to said according to her friend that works at Walmart, Walmart is holding orientation classes daily due to all the applications they've been receiving. Keep being stubborn Kroger and watch your stores become even more understaffed and your OSAT scores drop even more as a result. You reap what you sow.
Great Customers???!!! Well were not as bad as wally world, but common. Most folks get drawn in by the bennies and then when they figure out it gonna take forever to get it they bounce.
Saw a blog post on greatpeople from an HR person bemoaning their turnover. There great plan is to send people who quit a survey. Apparently they can't figure this out. Manager told me yesterday we don't have enough people to run the hours were suppose to have. They won't bother to hire off the street unless its for front end or deli. I working in produce and have been racking up OT. Nevermind I'm still getting lectures about this and that.
HR tells our management team flat out "you're wrong" when management tells HR the pay is the reason we're so understaffed and can't get job positions filled. HR then goes on the attack and says it's "management's fault" because employees are "mistreated" and not given "proper training" and if management did its job "right" we wouldn't have so many people quitting/not wanting to apply. Absolute BS. People quit for the most part because they can't live off of $7.35 an hour. Yes, you have people here and there in management that shouldn't be in management, but to blame the hiring problem solely on management is ridiculous.
It's like our ASP said. The benefits are great, but if you can't put food on the table or pay the bills at the end of the week, then affordable insurance, a great retirement plan and whatnot isn't going to mean squat to a person. The hire ups though either refuse to acknowledge this or will fight tooth and nail against the idea of paying hourly employees more. Kroger execs are REALLY against paying us what Walmart and Target are now paying its people. Just goes to show how incredibly greedy/shortsighted this company is.
I'd like to believe that surely a corporation that sells $100,000,000,000 in groceries a year could do better than create only a handful of winners . . . along with hundreds of thousands of workers who qualify for food stamps.
What do people who have been with Target for 1, 3, 5, and 10 years earn? If you're in high school $9 is making bank, but if you are trying to support yourself $9 isn't as great. And do they have personal health insurance for part time? What about vacations or holiday pay? Many times a wage hike is a sign that a company is having trouble finding or keeping people. Don't for a second believe it is out of the kindness of the bosses' hearts.
What do people who have been with Target for 1, 3, 5, and 10 years earn? If you're in high school $9 is making bank, but if you are trying to support yourself $9 isn't as great. And do they have personal health insurance for part time? What about vacations or holiday pay? Many times a wage hike is a sign that a company is having trouble finding or keeping people. Don't for a second believe it is out of the kindness of the bosses' hearts.
Very true. But on a 20 hour week, its an extra forty bucks for 9 dollars an hour. Vacation and bennies are great, but when it take a year plus to earn them, its not worth it. Our insurance is nothing to write home about either. Unless you see the doc a lot you might as well not have insurance. Vacation? Denied, needs of the business.
What do people who have been with Target for 1, 3, 5, and 10 years earn? If you're in high school $9 is making bank, but if you are trying to support yourself $9 isn't as great. And do they have personal health insurance for part time? What about vacations or holiday pay? Many times a wage hike is a sign that a company is having trouble finding or keeping people. Don't for a second believe it is out of the kindness of the bosses' hearts.
Very true. But on a 20 hour week, its an extra forty bucks for 9 dollars an hour. Vacation and bennies are great, but when it take a year plus to earn them, its not worth it. Our insurance is nothing to write home about either. Unless you see the doc a lot you might as well not have insurance. Vacation? Denied, needs of the business.
Well because of the ACA you need health insurance or you will supposedly be fined. And if they deny your vacation, which is unlikely if it's a non-busy week, they're gonna give you a check at the end of the year.
So the Kroger stores in my area are having ANOTHER city wide hiring event in April, and there's a big poster at my store outlining all the "benefits" of working for Kroger.
*Opportunities for Growth
*Paid Vacation
*Paid Benefits
*Flexible Hours
*Great Customers
*Job Security
No, I'm not joking about the last two. They're actually putting that on the signs now. Yeah... that's really going to attract the applications! $7.35 vs. $9.00 an hour at both Target/Walmart. But we have *GREAT* customers and you'll have *JOB SECURITY*... those twenty hour weeks at $7.35 are yours without worry!
Meanwhile, since news got out about Walmart, we've had multiple people quit and go to Walmart and a person I was talking to said according to her friend that works at Walmart, Walmart is holding orientation classes daily due to all the applications they've been receiving. Keep being stubborn Kroger and watch your stores become even more understaffed and your OSAT scores drop even more as a result. You reap what you sow.
$9 an hour is great if WalMart gives their employees enough hours. If WalMart is hiring employees daily, they can't be getting many hours. Then of course they can pick and choose which employees to keep after the probation period is up. I used to absolutely hate WalMart before I started working for Kroger. It's sad, I actually shop at WalMart again so I don't have to go to Kroger.
McDonald's becomes the next "big name" to announce a wage increase for its workers. I LOVE this one particular quote:
"We are acting with a renewed sense of energy and purpose to turn our business around," Steve Easterbrook, the company's newly appointed president and CEO said in a statement on Wednesday. "We know that a motivated workforce leads to better customer service, so we believe this initial step not only benefits our employees, it will improve the McDonald's restaurant experience."
That's too hard of a concept for Kroger to grasp though, isn't it? A motivated workforce leads to better customer service. Gee... who would have guessed it!?
Smart move by walmart now they will start taking all the decent people away from Kroger. Kroger is locked into union contracts with less pay the unions don't focus on pay raises during negotiations.
