Safeway Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

The benefits after one year of service are great. In fact they are free. The coworkers are usually fun people to be around too.

Cons

Sometimes it can be a little too 'corporate' but I'm sure any job has that. Sometimes the deli can be grueling work so it is not for people who may be out of shape.

Advice to Senior Management

Promote those who you depend on not just those who brown nose you.

Pros

Very fiexable about working schdule
Employees are very close to one another
Pay was okay
Good if you are in a union position

Cons

Hours were bad
Health benefits were bad
Upper management is poorly picked
Micomangment is very popular in stores
Store Managers are dumber then door nails

Advice to Senior Management

Move into the current generation
Stop with old school buddy buddy butt kisser and look at you emloyees who are harding working and treat them better

Pros

If you need a job to kill time, or just to make extra money than it's perfect. Most of the employees are pretty nice.

Cons

They expect you to do so much more than what they pay. I've literally had to scrape the floor OUTSIDE of starbucks in a different department. Why couldn't that departments employees do it? I have other duties to do in my department that they expect done. The customers are the most stuck up people i've ever met. Every single day at work I have to deal with a customer who isn't happy with the bathrooms & when I can't fix it, I get sh*t for it. Ridiculous.

Advice to Senior Management

2 words: HIGHER PAY. Thats it. People wouldn't be so disgruntled if you actually listened to them and their reasons. I'm tired of being used.

Pros

Schedules are pretty flexible, and management is usually good about letting you have time off as long as you plan ahead and request it at least 2 weeks in advance.

Cons

This is the lowest-paying job I have ever had. Everyone gets paid just 7.35 starting out, regardless of how much experience they have and raises are offered only after you have worked a certain number of hours. I am an older, much more experienced employee who works hard, but I deeply resent being paid the same as some of the lazy, inexperienced people I have to work with.

Also, there is A LOT of favoritism that goes on at my store. Courtesy clerks get sent on special errands to get food for management, taking them away from doing REAL work. Cashiers always have to pick up the slack.

Plus, on top of the normal customer service keys (the things we have to ace if we are mystery shopped), sucking up to the "Elite Customers" is just obnoxious.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't get mad, act as if I am inconveniencing you , or treat me like I am an idiot when I ask for your help with something.

Pros

Because of how awful the job was, the people I worked with were great.

Cons

Low pay, little to no direction on how to overcome issues.

Advice to Senior Management

Management was all over the board when it came to enforcing rules.

Pros

Some of the people I worked with were wonderful depending on the department! My experience with Safeway in different capacities at the Deer Valley campus was inconsistent and varied greatly depending on the upper management staff running the show. For a time had a visionary upper management staff that truly cared about their employees success, development, and value. Unfortunately i left the company for good due to empty promises and a demonstrated lack of value placed upon employees and their abilities. Repeatedly saw poor behavior rewarded and good behavior ignored. Too bad...they are losing some outstanding people!

Cons

Old school method of basing EVERYTHING on seniority instead of performance - Lack of valuing employees - Lack of recognition - People in positions that do not suit their abilities and skills - Don't promote or reward employees based on seniority alone - Lack of salary increase year after year

Advice to Senior Management

Improve recognition programs - Hire from outside the company to gain new ideas and different ways of doing things - Show your employees you value them and a job well done - Place the right people in positions they are suited to - Get rid of Steve Burd and his 1950's style corporate culture!

Pros

Really good campus cafeteria and fun co-workers

Cons

Safeway Corporate produce has turned into a giant version of "The Emperors New Clothes". After centralization they pretty much stopped giving bonuses and raises to the buyers (CS). It's kind of frustrating when all day long you see yourself saving the company money and making your salary then there isn't any financial reward. We're not geniuses, we've just seen a lot of produce seasons and know what the market is going to do days in advance. That's something a person brought from another department can't do no matter how well he knows MS Excel. The problem with Safeway is it's being run by a bunch of baggers and checkers who are just getting their buyer jobs out of attrition. And yes, they have caught several cases of buyers on the take but not nearly as many as there really are, lol. And if you're a college graduate they could care less with regards to raises and promotions (especially if you didn't come out of the stores).

Advice to Senior Management

Simple, Look back to when the stock price was in the 60.00 range and change everything back. Start treating the business like a bunch of independent grocers and buying offices so employees get that sense of ownership.

Pros

The particular job I have is fairly easy to do. It doesn't involve most of the scut work that many of the typical store level emplyees have to deal with. Some stores are good, some are not, it's entirely dependent upon the management group of the particular store. I've been fortunate to have a decent working relationship with store level management, so have had little problems there. The pay for a comparable position was decent, but not outstanding.

Cons

My senority did not earn me much respect in staffing or location. As a result, when volume went down, I was demoted to part-time despite being senior-most at my job with the highest qualifications. The raises come slowly as it all gets negotiated by unions. The benefits take forever to get, and can disappear easily if you don't work enough hours (which you don't control). Getting anything changed is a very slow process, if at all. Initiative is not typically rewarded unless you reach management level (no bonuses or additional compensation).

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the people on the ground a bit more as they are your link to the customer, instead of just going with what a desk man and a spreadsheet 500 miles away tells you. I know you try to keep the costs down, and labor is a big part of that, but be more generous to those that do well in working for you instead of just rating everyone along certain union guidelines.

Pros

The pay is decent & it's a fairly stable job in the tough economy.

Cons

The long hours & the disrespect from upper management. Store Managers work very hard & we are treated like we are kids. They expect us to work way too many hours & most of their expectations are unachievable

Advice to Senior Management

Stop acting like none of the managers care. Stop acting like we should work 100 hours a week - do you? Give us realistic goals

Pros

Did have fairly good pay and good benefits along with some approachable management in some areas.

Cons

Work weekends and nights, and extreme micro management.

Advice to Senior Management

Less Micromanagement and do need to listen to employee feedback to grow company in a direction where consumers are satisfied.