Trader Joe's reviews

Lack of good managers. Lack of training and leadership. Favoritism is a problem.

Very, very physical job. I can't say it enough: it's an exhausting job. You will be breaking down pallets at an extremely quick pace lifting 50 pound bags of potatoes, four gallons of milk at a time, cases of jarred items, ect... You do it over and over and over again. You can never be quick enough, because there are always call outs and limited staff. They are always calling on you to do more with less people. Your hours are not guaranteed so during slow times of the year you might be only working 3-4 days a week. Mate positions are even more exhausting. They work 47.5 hours a week (10 hour days) on a waterfall schedule. They start the week closing the store staying until 11:00pm and then by the end of the week are opening the store starting at 4:00am. It's a rough life and very, very unfriendly for those who have a family. If you add a commute onto the 10 hour workday, you are gone all week without anytime for taking care of yourself or your family. And the earnings are not that great when you start out and your raise is only one time a year instead of two like the crew. The crew actually gets a bigger pay raise than the Mates. You can be making less than crew members, but have a ton more responsibilities. They really need to start this position hourly wage at the top of the crew range. TJ's has a very hard time filling these Mate positions, or keeping Mates due to the nature of the job and the pay structure. People burn out very quickly.