Fred Meyer Stores – “Fred Meyer needs to treat all store level employees with respect.”

Pros

It is job, and not much more. The key to working for this company is to get into a store with a union. This company practices some harsh techniques at non-union stores, many of which would like to certify but cannot negotiate a contract because of the fear factor in doing so. (Actually, I surprised that the NLRB hasn't been called more often.)

Cons

It is only a job - unless you want to give up your family to get ahead. Once a store level employee; always a store level employee. Much of upper management made it to where they are, not based on their education (many of which have little more than HS diplomas) but on their ability to survive management bootcamp (years of odd hours, odd requests, and basically indentured servitude). And it is now doubly worse since Kroger has fully taken over.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop complicating the process. The more you try to be like a big company, the more impersonal you become. Stores generate the profits and the office treats us like we are third world country. Despite the efforts to make the company more accessible to diversity, the old boy regime is still the only path to get anywhere. Once you are in the store, you are stuck.