Publix Reviews

Cons

None company was great to me

Cons

not a lot of hours for minors

Cons

Multiple downsides. The overrall structure of the company seems straight forward and has many positives, however the many negatives to day to day labor were hard to meander. Break times were either full hour long breaks or nonstop customers for 4 + hours straight, with only requested bathroom breaks. No water breaks allowed in the front. Protective equipment was lacking and downright dangerous at times. Doing cleaning shift, not only was there a risk of grabbing the bag with glass or even needles in it, there was no protective gloves other than deli sandwich gloves. Fumes from chemicals cleaning bathrooms, have been to the detriment of the lungs at a minimum, and Requests were ignored for improved PPE. Could not update available hours without penalty until the 6 month mark, and did not have a consistent schedule. The list goes on…

Cons

This place is a cult. Most mangers are divorced and miserable working 60 + hours a week and the pay is awful for the amount of work that’s required of you. If you have a bad store manager every day just feels like shoveling water out of a sinking boat. Because they pay thier employees so poorly most your coworkers are careless and lazy slobs. So you inevitably will end up carrying your department and getting 0 help or remorse from the others in fact they will rub salt in the wound and probably work against you. Also a solid 30% of your coworkers are either under 18 and don’t give a crap about anything or they disabled so good luck working with them let alone when you get promoted and 3-5 baggers have Down syndrome and get lost outside with the shopping carts. I was the best at my job in my district by far and worked with easily 5-6 different stores whilst helping them open close or reset. There’s some great people who work there but they are also miserable and there’s no need for it when the ceo is collecting a bonus worth a few million dollars.

Cons

Siloed IT means there's a lot of waiting for other teams to complete tasks. Lack of communication between teams can lead to frustration and wasted time. My position could be 100% WFH (My team was 100% WFH during Covid) and the only benefit to being in office is that I eat lunch with other team members who happen to be in office that day. All collaboration is done via Teams whether we're all in the office or not.

Cons

Managing a Publix deli is stressful; there are always challenges stemming from Publix company policies and practices that have no basis in reality in the deli. It's tough when the company's structure or procedures make the job more complicated than it needs to be. In a deli, balancing customer service, quality, and operational efficiency can become overwhelming, especially if the company has insufficient support or resources. At Publix, you will be asked to do the impossible most days. Upper management has lost touch with day-to-day operations and will require you to do things that do not make sense so the paperwork will look good. You will need to work off the clock and do so unwillingly or willingly daily. The compensation is not worth it, and the hope and prayer of promotion are solely based on internal politics and not any value you bring to the company. Publix was a great place to work, but they have lost their way.

Cons

Physical Demands: The job can be physically demanding, involving repetitive movements, lifting heavy items, and standing for extended periods. This can lead to fatigue or strain, especially for those not accustomed to such tasks. Busy and Hectic Environment: During peak hours or holidays, the store can become extremely busy, leading to high-stress levels and a fast-paced work environment. This could be overwhelming for some individuals.

Cons

Competitive environment that rewards playing dirty. Sterotypical southern hospitality: polite but two-faced and fake. Due to their preference to promote from within, there is an extordinary amount of incompetence. However, if you pledge allegience to Publix, "bleed green", and brown-nose them, you will succeed whether you are competent or not. LITERALLY!!! Every year the new interns and associates describe the culture as a CULT. A CULT! It is KNOWN that Director level and beyond get away with ANYTHING - whether that is breaking FMLA laws, harassment, retaliation against reports of harassment, nepotism, or sabotaging other departments. When you report it to HR, leadership will find another way to circumvent their efforts to harrass you even more. Escalate that to senior leadership, and they help cover it up. Escalate it again to the CFO and NOTHING!

Cons

As a part time employee, you'll get scheduled to work nearly full time hours (like 35-39 hours a week) if you say you're available most days. People often call out so they call you on your days off often. The work is tiring, and the pay doesn't reflect it. Closing is an absolute nightmare. The deli manager was nice, but she was a bit condescending at times. I cut my finger on a slicer and one of the managers acted visibly annoyed with me for cutting my finger as if I did it on purpose, because he was going to have to do paperwork. The hours kind of suck and you don't ever really get to work short shifts so I wouldn't recommend this job if you're a student like I am. There is a huge turnover rate for this job and for good reason. They are always understaffed.

Cons

Every year, more benefits are taken away. Corporate hides it behind professional-sounding jargon. They try to make it sound like they're doing it for the employees, but we're losing bonuses, getting smaller raises, losing sick/vacation time, etc. Corporate micromanagers every little detail of every department. They can't fathom that stores in different areas should operate differently because they want everything done one way. One store only has a few customers until 10 AM, while another store has scores of customers upon opening + dozens of online orders and platters? Still staffed the same. We're encouraged to put out more than we sell. Overproduce to make the shelves look pretty. Every night, hundreds of pounds of wasted food and plastic are thrown away. I don't even want to think about the detrimental environmental effects Publix inflicts throughout all its stores across the East Coast.