Sounds like you work at my store. The only reason why things got bad is because of mismanagement. I bag up front and there is always last minute schedule changes without notification. I've even been two hours late one time because of a schedule change. It would be nice if they could stick to the original schedule printed on thursday, that way I can plan out my week better. I think that all the mismanagement and supervisors acting like they're the s*** has affected the way we treat customers. I view every customer as a rude customer now just because my bosses can get rude about things.

Amen to this post......shortly after the Thanksgiving sales period.....all department hours were decreased per Corperate orders.....even though the customers kept comming and are now getting ready for Christmas....and to add insult to injury it came to my attention this evening......decreased front end hours were trimmed even by the store manager to accomidate the older employees in all the other departments,who are not happy with the situation.....Just a thought.....how many of us who have 5 years or less of service and are not students are living below the poverty level.....Customer #1........employees are customers too.

Our hours got cut too and it's the fist

Managers' bonuses.

That's what happened to all the slashed hours. It comes down from district; from there it's filtered down to how badly salaried store managers want their jobs. Real talk. Happens in all of retail.

As to how this affects the real work force, the real people dealing with the customers? More trickle down effect. You're on a 8-16 hour week where you used to get 38-40 and your living expenses have been adjusted to that-----how 'customer oriented' are you likely to be? Busted down equipment that you're supposed to use to help your customers but management refuses to cut loose with the $$ to fix it? How happy are you gonna be about that, how sunny of a character are you going to appear to everyone around you?

Let me tell you a story. Just two weeks ago, our Market Manager (A.K.A. Kroger's District Manager) paid us a nice visit. In the space of a small office and less than twenty minutes, he told us in no uncertain terms that if we DID NOT deliberately find reasons to fire hourly employees, he was going to seek out each of us, re our areas, and find ways to "....eliminate the problem." That was his exact words. We were even given exact percentages of how many much P/L to meet. Believe me: This kind of dialog happens with Kroger management too.

See, bonuses are based on how much pay roll a store can save. The general figure is that 70% of a store's loss is pay roll. Now, I can't factor in how much power the Kroger union has.......But I definitely recommend using it to your fullest extent.

This ride is not going to get any less bumpy!

Customer service?

You can only get so much customer service when you are paying kids and burnouts minimum wage or close to it.  And then, there is no recognition for giving good customer service.  And, if you bend or skirt a rule in giving good customer service (which is likely), there's only a chance of punishment.

Why bother?

Customer service went out the window, as things like ELMS and Key Retailing were walking in the front door.