Meijer Reviews

Pros

I was looking for a job that actually paid me(I had a job where I barely earned anything) and Meijer seemed like an obvious choice. The work itself was pretty easy. I worked for two different stores in two states. In Michigan, I worked for a feminist who I didn't get along with. In Illinois, I worked for a man who respected and and gave me preferential treatment. I got the most hours because of this relationship. The discount is alright but not spectacular. Job security is really good. I transferred from a store in Michigan to a store in Illinois and my store director made it completely painless and totally vouched for me without really even knowing me.

Cons

Pay is not great. You get small raises after working every 700 hours or so, but it seems like a long ways away at the time. Most Meijer stores are unionized and I don't really care for unions. Union dues take money out of your paycheck but you have the option of having the money you would pay in union dues to go to charity and not belonging to the union.

Pros

Good benefits if you work full time. The people you work with are generally nice. Flexible hours. Very clean atmosphere.

Cons

Was promised 32 hrs per week and I only worked an average of less than 22. 3rd shift hours take getting used to. When I applied the job description stated that there would be repetive lifting of up to 45lbs. It's more like 50 to 75lbs especially when a shipment came in. I checked there web site and now there is no weight listed it just says: " Ability to lift, carry, push, pull, bend and twist while handling product".

Advice to Senior Management

The store director seemed very hands off. Most of the store equipment is in need of repair: L-carts, flat-tops, shamrocks and pallet-jacks were very hard to work with. They need to deliver on what is promised during the hiring process.

Pros

They offer health insurance. They are union which makes it harder to be fired but that keeps wages low and can lead to poor quality of employees.

Cons

Pay is not competetive. Raises are promised but not delivered. Receiving earned retroactive pay requires a lot of time and arguing with management and usually leads to nothing. Expected to be responsible for multiple departments. Unsatisfactory training so you can complete your tasks. Unrealistic expectations from management and few compliments or any other type of reward when you do a great job.

Advice to Senior Management

Read a management book! Reward good behavior and conversely punish bad behaior. Treat employees fairly. Also, power trips are not helpful for subordinates. Lead by example and not just when coorporate is in town.

Pros

great salary, quick ways to get promoted

Cons

sometimes focus more on customers than employees

Advice to Senior Management

treat employees and customers with same amount of respect

Pros

Something to do
Make a bit of money
Some basic job experience
Employee reward card gives you 10% off merchandise (excluding grocery, health & beauty)

Cons

I worked there for about three weeks and was still in the training period when I was fired. The employees with higher seniority knew how to work things, as in they knew how to slack off and make it look like they were working when the boss was around. The boss had those employees watch over me and help me out, but they also reported back to him how I was doing. I worked my butt off every night I was there, I would come home so sore and tired that I wasn't sure how I would get up the next day and do it all over again. I will admit that I wasn't the best employee; this was my first job and because of that I may have been slower with catching on. Still, I did everything I was told to do and seemed to get along fine with my coworkers. So, you can imagine how surprised I was when the boss pulled me aside after my first break of the day and told me that things "weren't working out". Upon asking what it was that I had done to get the axe, he told me that those who were helping me out and watching over me reported back to him that I refused to do the work that I was asked to do and was very particular about what I did and did not want to do. That, however, is as specific as it got. I was clearly confused, as I was sure that I had been doing a pretty good job and was getting the hang of things. I asked him what specific things I had refused to do and he simply said, "I'm not going there."

It felt pretty unfair to me that I was canned. He had no proof that I refused to do my work because he was never around. He relied on his employees to tell him what was going on. I was never spoken to about it beforehand, never given any warning; I was just pulled aside and told that I was done. What's more is that while giving me his firing speech, he mentioned that he felt as if I had lied to him in the interview about who I was and what my personality was like. That in particular really hurt because I try hard to be as genuine as possible. Oh, and when I called the boss above mine, he was surprised to bear that I had been fired and had been under the impression that I was doing just fine. I don't know, it alp just sounded shady to me.

Basically, this is a good job if you need some extra money, but don't expect much. The job I had definitely deserved more than minimum wage, but that's what I received. And just be careful with what you're saying and who you're saying it to.

Advice to Senior Management

I'm not really sure what to suggest. Better communication? Less shady people? Talk to employees before you show them the door, and if you do, explain to them what specifically happened that paved the way to termination. It's really the least you can do.

Pros

It's money
It's really easy
It's something to do

Cons

No point in doing anything as no matter what you do, the management will think you're slacking off.

Advice to Senior Management

Just leave me alone.

Pros

- work is not exhausting or difficult
- decent employee benefits
- receive a reward for doing a good job

Cons

- schedules can be quite random and disorganized
- only more senior employees get well organized scheduling
- get written up for ridiculous and minor reasons
- advancement can take a long time
- poor management
- job is very boring
- very low pay at start $7.40

Pros

Good people to work with strong team atmosphere

Cons

Too much turnover at store level

Advice to Senior Management

Make staff feel more valued

Pros

-Flexible hours
-Choose which department in which you would like to work
-After a year, you get holiday pay, fringe hours, and paid vacation
-If you're friendly with the management you can get rained and advanced within the department

Cons

-Management capability varies from department to department
-Work on all holidays except Christmas
-Must work through your "probationary" period to get holiday pay
-Must work a full a year to get fringe hours (paid for average hours worked on holiday+time and a half for that shift), and vacation time
-Management way too lax on employees
-It's union, so it's about seniority not merit
-If you do work in a supervisory position get ready for a lot of insubordinate employees and not a lot of consequences: Meijer has a "three strikes" rule when it comes to "no calls/no shows" and other absences, but employees seem to get around that

Advice to Senior Management

-There's no way to get around union rules, but merit needs to be recognized within the store; and laziness needs to be capped.
-Enforce the "cashier performance" evaluations so that lazier and slower cashiers are weeded out or trained to operate more efficiently

Pros

Management seems to care about their employees as a person - It seems like a large disjointed family, albiet family. They call you by name and seem to want you to succeed.

Cons

Physically demanding - the cashier job is actually 2 jobs as you are also the bagger. You are being timed as soon as the 1st item is scanned.The pay is $7.20 per hour and it certainly is worth much more. I have been told the turnover rate is pretty high. The Meijer" family image" is conflicting with what they pay you. It doesen't take a genius to understand that no person can live on $7.20 per hour.

Advice to Senior Management

You have a good concept. You have some really good people working for you. If you paid enough to live on, you would have less turnover; and more loyal employees who would take pride in their work. Unless you are lucky enough to make it to a management position, truth is - you cannot live on what Meijer pays.