Labatt Food Service reviews

Most of these have already been covered, so I won’t rehash them here. The benefits are terrible, the culture is ridiculously outdated, and you will almost without question be managed by someone who was never, ever meant (or trained) to be a manager. Advancement is a very uncertain thing at Labatt. The most common method is to either a.) Be born with the correct last name, or b.) Unrelentingly suck up to someone who was. This speaks to the true core of the culture, the thing that Labatt values the most: blind, unquestioning loyalty. They will tell you what the preferred shirt color is (white). They will tell you if they think your hair is too long (it probably is). They will tell you who your friends should be. I recall sitting through a lengthy meeting in which a junior executive (a member of category A above) tried, in his halting, stuttering manner, to explain to our department that our relationships with our co-workers are shallow and meaningless, while our relationship to The Company is sustaining, deep, and meaningful. Because you see, Labatt isn’t just a regional food distributor to the true believers in the company. It’s a way of life. There’s a weird cult of personality built around the CEO and the GM, as if their “business acumen” is irreplaceable and unique. As far as the true believers are concerned, working for Warren Buffett would be a decided step down. That being said, I can’t feel too upset about my time at Labatt. I made some lasting friendships, learned some useful skills, and gained valuable experience. So if you’re right out of college and looking for a job with decent pay that will allow you do these things, by all means, go for it. Just keep your head down, don’t question the frequently irrational statements you will hear managers make, and keep your resume up to date at all times. Do not speak up about problems you have to ANYONE, ever. You don’t know who will go to a manager and try to prove their loyalty by turning you in. Sounds paranoid, right? Unfortunately, that is truly the lay of the land. As mentioned in the “Pros” section above, you will have some great co-workers. Unfortunately most of them will be long gone by the time you hit the 2 year mark, because at the end of the day, there are hundreds of better companies to work for, and Labatt does not care about retaining anyone. If you are the type of person who just wants a place to punch the clock, do the bare minimum, and collect your paycheck, then Labatt is a great place where you can stay under the radar for years. Other employees stay because this is the only corporate job they’ve ever had, and they don’t understand how much better they could have it elsewhere. Getting these naive college grads is a core part of Labatt’s recruiting strategy, as is firing anyone who begins to question the rapid turnover or poor decision-making.

The biggest con, culture. There are plenty of others, but culture is fundamental to the development of a company and the development of a young employee. There's not a day goes by where I show up to my new position and wonder why or how I managed to live within the Labatt culture for two years. It's toxic, life draining, demeaning and solely authoritative based. The worst part about the culture is a complete disregard or lack of acknowledgement that the culture needs correction. Labatt believes, if you leave you just didn't embrace the culture. The reality is that you leave, because you take a look of the reality outside of Labatt and realize the culture of this company is insane. Labatt perpetuates this culture by paying its employees far more than the expected salary for the area. People basically get bought into working in an environment where your executives overwork managers and managers believe they can treat subordinates that way. The simple fact that subordinates is used to describe people who are managed is demeaning and disgusting.