Safeway reviews

3.1

40% would recommend to a friend

(10,564 total reviews)
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Susan Morris

23% approve of CEO

31% positive business outlook

Safeway has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 10,564 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Safeway employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

11K reviews
3.0
May 18, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The particular job I have is fairly easy to do. It doesn't involve most of the scut work that many of the typical store level emplyees have to deal with. Some stores are good, some are not, it's entirely dependent upon the management group of the particular store. I've been fortunate to have a decent working relationship with store level management, so have had little problems there. The pay for a comparable position was decent, but not outstanding.

Cons

My senority did not earn me much respect in staffing or location. As a result, when volume went down, I was demoted to part-time despite being senior-most at my job with the highest qualifications. The raises come slowly as it all gets negotiated by unions. The benefits take forever to get, and can disappear easily if you don't work enough hours (which you don't control). Getting anything changed is a very slow process, if at all. Initiative is not typically rewarded unless you reach management level (no bonuses or additional compensation).

3.0
May 18, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This is a stable industry in and economic downturn where you don't have to worry about job consolidation or elimination. You also do not have to worry about stores closing. They have a very nice employee activity program that costs a dollar per week to participate but allows discounted ticket prices for sports venues and theme parks etc.

Cons

You are only a pawn. A small pawn. There is very poor communication within the stores. You are only spoken to by management when something needs to be corrected or addressed. There is never a thank you or a kudos for solid performance. Everyone is treated like they are incompetent, kind of like it is your first job all over again. The expectations for neatness and visuals are nearly impossible to maintain. Not much focus on basic practices such as rotating dates or markdowns. Instead if it appears that you are in control of your job you are pulled to another area of the store to pull someone else's weight.

2.0
May 17, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone has to eat, so it's a stable business to be in.. paycheck every week. In the non-unionized divisions.. it is easy to advance if you are a high-energy person who strives for results. The company has structure, somewhat micromanaging.. but the attention to detail makes it fun to win sales events, donations, merchandising contests etc.

Cons

Let's be honest .. it is a top down organization, that is way too top heavy. This leaves the stores with no staff, too few hours. Important controllables are left off the grid... Things like the upkeep of employee files, checking product dates, focusing on icreasing sales, and community involvement are allocated no hour value... if a manager cares.. it must be done on his / her personal time. While the company has employment coordinators and human resource advisors, backstage does a poor job of recruiting qualifed applicants for entry level management positions. This is not a 5 day a week--10 hours a day job, if you want to feel satisfied that you are making a difference.

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