Hey everyone! I've been working at a marketplace since it opened last year as the meat market ADH. We've been really low on staff due to hours being cut and today I came in a 7 a.m. the early shift guy came in at 2 a.m.. We got a lot of stuff done before he leaves at 10, lunchmeat, markdowns, service case worked, frozen worked, and the counter filled. It looks great! When he leaves I'm by myself from 10 to 2 p.m., I ask another guy if he can come in at 12 and he doesn't. So I'm alone in a market that does 180k-200k a week. At about 11 everyone in town decides to come to the store and buy everything in the counter, I'm not a slow worker and I'm not a bad employee, ask my old market manager. So I can't keep up with the steaks and roast we have on sale let alone the pretty much empty counter. The store manager decides to ask why the counter is empty and I tell him I'm the only one here and he asks where the girl that fills the counter is, again I tell him I'm the only person in the market, he huffs and walks out. He comes back about 30 min later and ask the same question. Then he ask why that is and I tell him about our low hours and short staff, he says I'm using that as an excuse! I wanted so bad to walk out right there and throw away my time with the company. Again I'm not a bad/lazy employee I just couldn't keep up! Finally my help comes in at 2 and I cut enough steaks and roast to last while I break the truck down and have him fill the counter. They sale out in about 15 min so my SM comes in and ask why we still don't have any. (sorry this is so long). I tell him the same thing and he says his excuse BS again and I almost lost it, probably would've had an assault charge. A few minutes later my market manager comes in that was off today and ask me what's going on, I tell him everything that happened and he talks to the SM and again the SM gives his excuse reason that he gave me. We are so tired of the horrible management at that store that we are really close to stepping down and going back to our old stores, he probably will at the beginning of 2017. We have to pick up so much slack it's pitiful, it feels like 3 people are the only ones that work in the market. There is absolutely no follow through from the managers, they just don't care. Yes this was kind of a rant but whatever. Is it like this everywhere?
Yes it is. A work at a marketplace also in the deli. Our hours are cut by 100 vs last year per week. You can see this on esched. It is unbelievable. We were also told there will be nothing for the employees unless its associate appreciatation day. Not even a Christmas card for Christmas...
"do the work of 5 people and get paid the same as one" is the kroger motto. puh-lease, i don't get paid enough to deal with that BS. especially around the holidays, there's an aura of severe anxiety and stress all over the store, so everyone is being wholly unreasonable about the workloads we have to sift through and management is on our a$$ all day and night. so yes, it is that bad in other stores!
I strongly wish that some important KROGER 'HIGHER-UPS' with real influence that can GET RID OF THE TOTALLY WORTHLESS E-SCHEDULE will actually read this thread, and do something about the situation. Yes, this is going on in other Krogers.............cut worker hours, have less employees in deli, produce, front end, the whole shebang......... never mind we are breaking records in sales figures during the last few months!!
It seems the more money that Kroger makes, the more they will try to cut staff and mis-treat their employees. Skeleton crews are now the NORM at many Kroger stores. And at our store we have MORE CO-MANAGERS walking around, checking their cellphones, chit-chatting, and LESS actual "nose-to-the-grindstone" workers than ever. There is something wrong with this picture!!! Kroger corporation executives who can ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE, are you listening?????????????
I work in a really small store now, one that only does about 300k a week, and believe me it's not any better in small stores vs. big stores. Yesterday in the deli they had 2 people scheduled the whole day. One opener, one closer. Some days i'm the only person opening in the bakery with no closer.
I work in a really small store now, one that only does about 300k a week, and believe me it's not any better in small stores vs. big stores. Yesterday in the deli they had 2 people scheduled the whole day. One opener, one closer. Some days i'm the only person opening in the bakery with no closer.
Maybe, just maybe, that small store of yours that only does about 300k a week could do 350k a week or 400k a week if the store staffed its departments better. Just imagine how much better the service would be in both the deli and bakery and how much more those departments would be able to offer the customers if they were properly staffed. Kroger doesn't get this, though. Kroger doesn't care to see how investing in its stores and people can lead to an increase in profits down the line. The company would rather go down the road it's currently on and that road leads to a cliff eventually because the company is only going to bleed more and more customers as it cuts more hours in order to increase profits.
Kroger stores don't seem to care much about customer service anymore. It's as if they no longer understand what that really means. Yeah, they've got "the customer is always right" thing as a saying, but to the store here, that means "Yes, you can have your mangy mutt in the cart without a vest", and "Yes, you can return that box of food that went bad a month ago because you bought it 2 months ago" and so on, but then they take the people from other departments and say "Stop doing your job and make the shelves look pretty even though you're supposed to be actively helping customers"
As for hours, we've got that problem too. It seems like at least 1/3 of our staff is dead weight, and those that do work aren't getting the hours that the dead weight do just because somehow, they have managed to be there long enough to end up with some seniority. Even when someone calls off or nc/ns, we can't call anyone in because we don't have the hours. But HELLO???? So and so DID NOT SHOW UP!! Why can't we give that 8 hour shift to this guy who WANTS it?? Make him happy, AND give us some help, AND no one gets over time cause he gets 3 days a week tops!
Also, you know how our checks say "Satisfied customers made this check possible"? Well, guess how the customer became satisfied? An employee who didn't want to walk out of the store because of crap conditions. We are getting more and more walk outs because of bad conditions, dead weight coworkers, and incompetent managers than we are getting applications. We've got people who can sit and talk crap all day around customers and coworkers and cause hostile enviornments, but look at a customer wrong ONE time and a good employee gets stabbed in the back by the company. Good job Kroger! Keep it up! That's how to make money!!
Hey everyone! I've been working at a marketplace since it opened last year as the meat market ADH. We've been really low on staff due to hours being cut and today I came in a 7 a.m. the early shift guy came in at 2 a.m.. We got a lot of stuff done before he leaves at 10, lunchmeat, markdowns, service case worked, frozen worked, and the counter filled. It looks great! When he leaves I'm by myself from 10 to 2 p.m., I ask another guy if he can come in at 12 and he doesn't. So I'm alone in a market that does 180k-200k a week. At about 11 everyone in town decides to come to the store and buy everything in the counter, I'm not a slow worker and I'm not a bad employee, ask my old market manager. So I can't keep up with the steaks and roast we have on sale let alone the pretty much empty counter. The store manager decides to ask why the counter is empty and I tell him I'm the only one here and he asks where the girl that fills the counter is, again I tell him I'm the only person in the market, he huffs and walks out. He comes back about 30 min later and ask the same question. Then he ask why that is and I tell him about our low hours and short staff, he says I'm using that as an excuse! I wanted so bad to walk out right there and throw away my time with the company. Again I'm not a bad/lazy employee I just couldn't keep up! Finally my help comes in at 2 and I cut enough steaks and roast to last while I break the truck down and have him fill the counter. They sale out in about 15 min so my SM comes in and ask why we still don't have any. (sorry this is so long). I tell him the same thing and he says his excuse BS again and I almost lost it, probably would've had an assault charge. A few minutes later my market manager comes in that was off today and ask me what's going on, I tell him everything that happened and he talks to the SM and again the SM gives his excuse reason that he gave me. We are so tired of the horrible management at that store that we are really close to stepping down and going back to our old stores, he probably will at the beginning of 2017. We have to pick up so much slack it's pitiful, it feels like 3 people are the only ones that work in the market. There is absolutely no follow through from the managers, they just don't care. Yes this was kind of a rant but whatever. Is it like this everywhere?
Yep, unfortunately it is that bad. Heck we just got bumped up to a market place in my town too. And although I know they had initially said it wasn't until a little before Christmas and going into the new year our hours were to be cut. But it happened even before then. And we have even more to do now than ever. The scheduling definitely sucks. I've had to come in on my days off a few times just so they would have someone to work different shifts. I've even been called in early a few times too on the days I do work. But things are still such a hot mess. We have folks quitting left and right in Deli(I'm in bakery, and I think it's also why my DH, was telling me that in order to give me the hours he wants to give me. I'd have to start cross-training in Deli), we've had someone from the bakery move over to Starbucks. Then one of our other bakery chicks was moved down to Chicken Shop, but she told me the other day that she is still considered in bakery, but they just hid her hours under Deli for some reason. And my dad even got to talking to someone from another dept.(while I was clocking out and getting my stuff together so we could get some shopping done before heading home), and she said come the new year they plan to no longer hire teenagers, at least younger than 18, and get rid of anybody that doesn't have in their 90 days any more. So it's definitely a hot mess all around.
Hey everyone! I've been working at a marketplace since it opened last year as the meat market ADH. We've been really low on staff due to hours being cut and today I came in a 7 a.m. the early shift guy came in at 2 a.m.. We got a lot of stuff done before he leaves at 10, lunchmeat, markdowns, service case worked, frozen worked, and the counter filled. It looks great! When he leaves I'm by myself from 10 to 2 p.m., I ask another guy if he can come in at 12 and he doesn't. So I'm alone in a market that does 180k-200k a week. At about 11 everyone in town decides to come to the store and buy everything in the counter, I'm not a slow worker and I'm not a bad employee, ask my old market manager. So I can't keep up with the steaks and roast we have on sale let alone the pretty much empty counter. The store manager decides to ask why the counter is empty and I tell him I'm the only one here and he asks where the girl that fills the counter is, again I tell him I'm the only person in the market, he huffs and walks out. He comes back about 30 min later and ask the same question. Then he ask why that is and I tell him about our low hours and short staff, he says I'm using that as an excuse! I wanted so bad to walk out right there and throw away my time with the company. Again I'm not a bad/lazy employee I just couldn't keep up! Finally my help comes in at 2 and I cut enough steaks and roast to last while I break the truck down and have him fill the counter. They sale out in about 15 min so my SM comes in and ask why we still don't have any. (sorry this is so long). I tell him the same thing and he says his excuse BS again and I almost lost it, probably would've had an assault charge. A few minutes later my market manager comes in that was off today and ask me what's going on, I tell him everything that happened and he talks to the SM and again the SM gives his excuse reason that he gave me. We are so tired of the horrible management at that store that we are really close to stepping down and going back to our old stores, he probably will at the beginning of 2017. We have to pick up so much slack it's pitiful, it feels like 3 people are the only ones that work in the market. There is absolutely no follow through from the managers, they just don't care. Yes this was kind of a rant but whatever. Is it like this everywhere?
Yep, unfortunately it is that bad. Heck we just got bumped up to a market place in my town too. And although I know they had initially said it wasn't until a little before Christmas and going into the new year our hours were to be cut. But it happened even before then. And we have even more to do now than ever. The scheduling definitely sucks. I've had to come in on my days off a few times just so they would have someone to work different shifts. I've even been called in early a few times too on the days I do work. But things are still such a hot mess. We have folks quitting left and right in Deli(I'm in bakery, and I think it's also why my DH, was telling me that in order to give me the hours he wants to give me. I'd have to start cross-training in Deli), we've had someone from the bakery move over to Starbucks. Then one of our other bakery chicks was moved down to Chicken Shop, but she told me the other day that she is still considered in bakery, but they just hid her hours under Deli for some reason. And my dad even got to talking to someone from another dept.(while I was clocking out and getting my stuff together so we could get some shopping done before heading home), and she said come the new year they plan to no longer hire teenagers, at least younger than 18, and get rid of anybody that doesn't have in their 90 days any more. So it's definitely a hot mess all around.
I agree with not hiring teenagers. Too many of them are lazy and don't want to work. I have a hard time seeing how well these kids Kroger hires will do later in life if they can't even keep up a good work ethic at a place like Kroger. Teenagers are seriously a waste of hours, training, and time. Good riddance.
I work in a really small store now, one that only does about 300k a week, and believe me it's not any better in small stores vs. big stores. Yesterday in the deli they had 2 people scheduled the whole day. One opener, one closer. Some days i'm the only person opening in the bakery with no closer.
Maybe, just maybe, that small store of yours that only does about 300k a week could do 350k a week or 400k a week if the store staffed its departments better. Just imagine how much better the service would be in both the deli and bakery and how much more those departments would be able to offer the customers if they were properly staffed. Kroger doesn't get this, though. Kroger doesn't care to see how investing in its stores and people can lead to an increase in profits down the line. The company would rather go down the road it's currently on and that road leads to a cliff eventually because the company is only going to bleed more and more customers as it cuts more hours in order to increase profits.
Well, as you know, since they use their stupid ELMS system, we will never be allowed to be properly staffed.
I mean in my old store the bakery department got at least around 180 hours a week, in the store i'm in now, I got 112 hours on the last schedule. 112 hours for the bakery!! And we have really about the same amount of products as my old store!! So it's the EXACT same job but with less hours/people. I would love to help this store out by increasing sales, increasing hours, and making myself be a good department head but with these conditions i don't see how i can do it.
I agree that things are **** but don't expect anything to change for the better, anytime soon. Kroger is still making record profits. The majority of their stores just experienced record sales Christmas week. What Kroger is doing & not doing is working - for Kroger!
Same at my store. Meat department seems to be overstaffed. Grocery department (which does 1/3 of the total sales of the store) only has a 5 man night stock crew in a million dollar plus store. Got holes everywhere all the time and all they care about is whether or not the store has been conditioned. The dayshift part time grocery department guys are always bagging or helping out in the dairy, so nothing ever gets done in dry grocery or the frozen department. The nutrition department does maybe 40 thousand a week yet has 2 full timers and 3 part timers and they never manage to touch the frozen nutrition part of the stock. I believe the co-managers in my store only work about 35 hours a week because there is never one there when the night stock crew comes in. You ask an employee where the co-manager is when you come in at 10pm and they respond, I haven't seen a manager in "hours" and 3 guys standing around in the meat department at 10 pm (an hour after it has closed) just talking to each other.
Lately we've only had two closers in the deli every weekend recently. Our deli is always slammed but on weekends it's even worse, the line is always at least 5 people until around 8 when it starts to die down a little bit. It's just insane to expect only two people to close the deli in our store. Getting our breaks is challenging and when one of us does, the customers get cranky. "Are you the only one working today?!" Why yes, yes I am, thank you for noticing.
Our store has been running on skeleton power as well. EVEN DURING the holidays!! During Thanksgiving and Christmas our UCs could NOT even do their own duties because they kept being called up front. Our sweep log was punched WITHOUT an inspection. That's how slammed we were. Some liquid spills dried up on the floor. Customer complaints all day due to long lines and oos. Management loosing their cool with employees not wanting to cut their lunches short to help front end.
Smh... Better get used to skeleton power because I have this feeling it's here to stay
Flashbacks as to why I left. Only it's worse now than last year. Long-time staff that I knew are gone or transferred out. New hires are younger than ever and every week there are new faces that aren't there the next week. Hardly anyone in the store to ask if you need help as a customer. 1 or 2 in my old deli per shift and my last ''bud'' says all the older, long-time deli reliables went to ''click it'' and now no one to fill their shoes. It is insane and I am so glad I left.
