Pros

- pay raises, from $10/hr when i was new to $13.50/hr now after 3 years (although it still wouldn't catch up to the cost of living at this point) -most of the stores are unionized -scheduling is flexible -low-stress work environment at the bakery in Kroger off of Providence Rd in Kempsville Virginia Beach VA. Supervisor is very understanding. No one is micro-managing or breathing down my neck about when to take breaks, you can leave early or late depending on the workload that day and your personal life as long as you communicate well w/supervisor or co-workers -10% employee discount, occasionally $100 worth of free groceries

Cons

-little or no career advancement. At one Kroger i worked at there was a 67 yr old lady who worked there 18 yrs and never had a pay raise. -There aren't really any transferable skills to learn here unless you go into cake decorating. This has more to do with the modern food industry in general, but grocery stores' bakeries are more like factory work than a real bakery would be. -the amount of heavy lifting you have to do can eventually cause back problems and foot problems, even if you lift correctly - the sanitation code forbids any "personal items" in the bakery which means people can't have a bottle of water anywhere except the opposite end of the store in the break room. With all the physical labor and oven heat, if you get dehydrated easily or have asthma, management won't care because "rules are rules" although no one realistically follows these rules.