Publix Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Publix

Pros – Great workplace, awesome management. Good hours

Cons – Customers can be picky and difficult.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep it up

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Publix

Pros – Pay was decent ($7.50) for someone with no previous experience. Hours were pretty good. Management was friendly.

Cons – Employee dress code is very strict. Standing on concrete floors all day is bad for your feet. Non-management employees weren't always the best. A lot of times you have to pick up the slack for others who can't do their job properly.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't be afraid to let employees know when they aren't doing their job well. Too many slackers get by with little punishment or warning.

Current Employee – been working at Publix

Pros – Management, at least at my location, are fairly supportive in allowing days not available not to work. They also are more willing than other places I've encountered to give you slack when you need it most depending on the circumstances. I don't even consider myself a "favorite" and I get that treatment. Its very hard to get fired at Publix, you have to do something big and down right bad to accomplish it.

Cons – The pay is below average in all departments. Its more than Kroger but thats not saying much. Opportunities for quick advancement are limited. The downside to Publix is that they retain too many people in the departments, this overextends the hours available making it hard to make a living if you're part time. The current raise increment is 15 cents for an above average evaluation, used to be 25 cents. Publix has had instances where it has rehired members of management who acquired a misdemeanor conviction stealing from their own store location.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus more on transferring associates between departments and cross training instead of hiring new people. Increase pay to be a leader in the marketplace and draw better talent in the process.

Former Employee – worked at Publix

Pros – -Friendly people
-A lot of people retiring: opportunities for new grads

Cons – -Poor technical skills of co-workers

Advice to Senior Management – -Be more active

Current Employee – been working at Publix

Pros – Publix offers plenty of potential for advancement, and a fantastic benefits package--for the right people. Pay is good for the industry, and the management allows for flexible hours. Personally, I think the focus on customer service makes Publix a great company in which to work. Many of the people are great to work with, and managers are very helpful

Cons – Most of the benefits are for full-time employees, but the majority of associates are kept at part time, barely, so you work the hours without the benefits. Even if you have a regular 35 or even 40 hours available, it's nearly impossible to get full time unless you open your availability completely. Favoritism and nepotism are problems, at least at some stores. Policy enforcements are slow, to say the least. The whole chain is supposed to be changing uniforms, but currently only about half a dozen people at our store have the new uniforms. For many people, hours are inconsistent. One week you can get 15 hours and the next, 35 hours. Corporate imposes rules without ensuring that they work in real life. For example, demanding there be one person doing nothing but handing out samples between certain hours, but cutting the department's overall hours allowance, or scheduling only a couple cashiers on a day expected to be busy.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to the little people. When associates bring complaints to management, they should be taken seriously. Don't play favorites with departments or people. Make sure that qualified associates reach full time before new associates. Allow part-time associates to accrue sick leave and vacation time. We need it just as much as full timers.

Current Employee – been working at Publix

Pros – Working at Publix is one of the best decisions I've ever made! The benefits are outstanding, the opportunities are there for the taking, if you're ambitious, you can retire at 40! Where else can you do that? Without a college education to boot! I also love it that the salaries and bonuses are common knowledge. There are no secrets about who is making what, so if you want to go into management, you know exactly how much you can make and what your bonuses will be.

Cons – It's working at a grocery store. No ifs ands or buts. It's not glamorous, but it is what you make of it. If you concentrate on the customer and making them happy, you forget the rest. So the cons aren't really cons at all.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to the little guy, listen to us out there in the trenches about what works, what doesn't and what customers want. Because we hear it all day long and know what it will take to get the job done and keep the customers happy.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Publix

Pros – I love the awesome working environment. Everyone is very nice and helpful and the customers are usually very nice. The benefits are really good for the position.

Cons – Sometimes the hours are difficult but the managers are very understanding of requested days off.

Advice to Senior Management – Always be open to employee questions/concerns. Reward for good work done.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Publix

Pros – Benefits comparable industry-wide. Pay is also very competitive for the industry. More so for salaried associates rather than hourly associates. There is also a ridiculous amount of opportunity to have a 100K + a year job with little to no formal education. The time frame to reach management varies and isn't based on any specific departmental skill. You can reach SM position from any sub-department; CS, Deli, Meat, Grocery (which is the most difficult), Bakery, or Produce. The job is relatively easy though doing it well (no matter what you do) can prove challenging for people who; cannot provide good customer service, lack even marginal work ethic, lack follow through in terms of progressing their training and realizing their opportunities leading to positions of management. It's a family-like work environment in good ways such as supporting your growth with the company and in your personal life through community outreach programs like United Way. The job is also extremely hard to lose. Stability is a rarity these days and it requires a sub-par IQ to get fired from this job.

Summary: Stock Options, Medical, Dental, 401k, enormous opportunity, four inventory bonuses a year, up to three weeks pay Christmas bonus (FT only -- which can be floated throughout the year), work-through vacations (if approved by management), prescription discount program, and as of recent, free Flu shots.

Cons – Management positions tend to be spoon-fed to any idiot who can pass a test. Training tends to come in the form of your manager dropping a questionnaire and an answer book in front of you and leaving you in the break room to complete it. Pay increases and decreases tend to be at the whim of your manager who more often than not has biased opinions towards you and it's usually seen on associate evaluations. Although this is not the "practice" Publix promotes -- it is something that can happen depending on the store you're at. Experience has taught me that due to certain lawsuits suffered by the company in passed years, you often wind up with dramatically under qualified, inexperienced people in management positions. Pressure to complete a nearly absurd amount of work in a very small amount of time does indeed exist. By measuring productivity through IPLH the inevitable result is goals that are virtually impossible to achieve. This leads to understaffed stores, empty shelves, low associate morale, and eventually dissatisfied customers. Being a family-like environment comes with it's downs as well; drama, fraternization, etc.

Advice to Senior Management – Less talk, more walk. I train more of my fellow stock clerks (FT and PT) than just about all of the managers I've ever worked for. Although I took the step to management and realized it wasn't for me I do acknowledge the good in Publix -- of which there is a lot. Every job comes with it's downsides and Publix is no exception. Publix as a company does what it can to ensure it's associates are knowledgeable and proficient. Although the company has it's standards, not every associate is the same. Management overall needs to be less reactive and more proactive.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Publix

Pros – awesome benefits for full timers, great managers and schedule.

Cons – as a cashier you have to be on your feet the whole time (as expected) that is the only con i can think of.

Advice to Senior Management – the leadership was great.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Publix

Pros – It was a great place to balance school and work. The management was always flexible with time-off and there are so many employees working there that it is likely you will always find somebody to cover you. This was especially helpful with such a busy schedule when you're attending school.

Cons – Customers are not always respectful and can be really nasty to you sometimes. Other workers (baggers especially as they stay outside getting carts a lot) don't always pull their weight so you end up doing double the work.

Advice to Senior Management – Try to hire more dependable workers so that others who are getting paid the same don't always have to do double the work to make up for the slackers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend