I work in produce so I can't necessarily speak from personal experience, but from what I hear I would have to say meat cutter would be more lucrative. I hear they get paid very good due to the certification you need to be one. I don't know if the pay is the same as a frozen food lead or better. I do know, however, that frozen food is a sub-department of grocery so you will get the base pay of a sub-department lead or an assistant lead (backup), which depends on the union of your district. Mine is like top pay plus premium so that is $15.05 plus 1 dollar = $16.05. Your mileage may vary.
But aside from that, I guess it would depend on what you would rather do, based on all the benefits and lack thereof.
For instance, in frozen food, you will have to be in the cold ass freezer which can be a deal breaker to some. As a meat cutter, you are using a dangerous machine that could chop off your fingers or hands, etc.
I would weigh the perks and disadvantages and choose based on that. Or perhaps look into something else you would rather do like produce or deli. Ask department heads in your store what they have to do.
Meat cutter imo. Don't do Frozen Lead only if you:
You can deal with the cold.
Deal with the pay ( leads don't get much at our store )
Lack of help! Yes, you will get someone who's only getting maybe 20 hrs in the department, which ain't ****! You'll never get anything done with that or keep people around.
Ordering, conditioning and markdown BY YOURSELF unless you train the other guy of course which isn't hard at all, but very very time consuming. You're on time constraints as a lead and most don't last long. We had two leave within a 3 month period! It's the most overturned department in our store beside Dairy. IF you can deal with all the things I've mentioned, good luck because you're gonna' REALLY REALLY need it. Frozen Lead is no joke. Be a meat cutter instead! Trust me, you'll be assistant Meat manager in no time making more than 16 an hour and it's daytime vs overnight frozen lead. Meat department heads get paid more than regular managers with time and a half! Not joking. The meat department is the most lucrative department in our store beside produce.
-- Edited by OvernightHero on Tuesday 22nd of January 2019 12:07:47 PM
