Trader Joe's reviews

I've worked for this company for many years as a crew member. Unfortunately, nepotism has always been an element for the employees to be aware of. I was lucky to be on the good side of management for many years but that changed with a new store manager and a management team that followed suit. Many employees in my store have experienced unfair and biased reviews, especially the older employees. Lot's of decent employees fired or "encouraged" to leave the company so as to move in newer, younger cheaper employees. I've also watched decent employees go for years without a raise because they did good jobs but were not in the "favored" circle with management. It used to be the employees were genuinely happy at the stores, but now the smiles and small talk are there due to fear. Checkout counters have been minimized to increase intimacy with customers but to cut down on ergonomics and safety for both employees and customers. It used to be employees strengths were considered when placing them in different departments of the store, but this has fallen by the wayside in the name of cross training. So if you want to feel special this is not the place unless you become managements little star by sacrificing your sanity to do everything imaginable in the store. A new atmosphere of competition has also been set up so expect to fight like a pigeon for what little hours are tossed down from management. The scheduling system is on the dayforce app and employees can now forget about any personal considerations when it comes to their schedule and hours. Your sick pay will be bundled with your vacation pay as "absence reserve" so if you get sick...forget about that vacation you had planned. Employees are encouraged to even donate their absence reserve to employees who experience hardships. Really? I would think this company could dig a little deeper themselves to help employees in need. An insult to pawn it off their "peasants". This company uses the term "Kaizen" to to represent their values. Sorry to say this has proven to me to not be the case.

Pay started at $9.50/hr in 2009, raises vary but are a "potential" of approx $0.30 an hour every six months, which they've raised the bar on numerous times over the years to impede success with. Low pay. At 30 hours a week (max a crew member can work ) I was well below the poverty bracket, even after multiple raises. That mean dependence on food stamps to feed my kids! A bi-weekly varying schedule meant I could never make advance plans socially Horrible beurocracy with a large sense of favoritism and sexism in the works Little to no chance of moving upward on the corporate ladder unless you are willing to do serious brown nosing, and I mean lay it on thick Lousy customers Poorly managed, training rarely implemented, or starts and is quickly changed or forgotten, employees not properly trained in food safety hastily thrown in demo to cover lunches and breaks. Copious amounts of wasted food, daily. Public bathroom; also cleaned by regular crew. And during the holidays you'll get to listen to non stop Christmas music for three months straight!