At my store we have had hours cut and they continue to hire more. We have over 110 people but were always shorthanded.
Also when ever anything breaks it takes a act of god and congress to get it fixed. In our deli weve had one slicer broke for nearly a year yet after two failes attempts at repair they won't buy a new one.
I worked for a Kroger where the straddle stacker was one of the non-motorized ones. The only battery power feature was the lift. It was from the grand opening 28 years ago (at that time) They NEVER replaced it. Just changed out the battery when needed.