Confusing business model

[Carrie12345]

You know how everyone’s like, “People just don’t want to work”, or “Places just don’t pay enough”, or “Pandemic”, or other standard catch phrase for employee shortages in the 2020s?  Well, I’m having trouble figuring out what’s up with this particular situation.  I have a bit of a gut feeling, but I’m not fully sold on it yet.

You know the store, but I don’t want to name it and make this a google hit. It’s the one that multiplies like rabbits and most things were never just a buck even though it’s name would suggest so.  Probably every single one of the locations across the US claims to need workers. I have a kid who was hired about a month and a half or so ago. Applied to the company in general, hired in one of 3 reasonable distance locations.

So, they almost never have more than 2 people working at a time, and my kid is getting <20 hrs/wk most weeks. Garbage pay compared to most other places. Frequent schedule changes or sent home early. I know places love to stay under full time hours, but this isn’t even flirting with close.

How can a store (or multiple store locations, in this case) be so desperate for workers, but not really use their workforce, and yet still continue to open new locations in close proximity? How is that a sustainable model?

[HomeAgain]

Ah, the grocery store model. 

I don't know if that's what it is called, but when my oldest worked at a large chain grocery store, it was exactly what you describe.  A few points on his work:

-he only got the job finally because he ignored the rules of putting in applications online.  Turned out, the applications go to a database and not all the store managers knew how to access it well.  They could search for a person's info, but couldn't do a search based on store preference, chronological order of applications, or anything else. It was a black hole. DS went in, found the manager, talked to her, and then got an interview.

-there were plenty willing to work, but the stores were encouraged to have as slim a staff as possible to save money. They flirted a lot with only having 2 in his department or 2 cashiers. The kid worked in the deli,, and the short staffing meant he was never home on time because the equipment cleaning took forever.

-store managers didn't really understand how to manage.  They assumed everyone there had full availability and nothing else in their lives.  The unpredictability caused high staff turnover.  And if that wasn't enough, they could move you to a different store in the area with no warning.

 

It's one of those situations where they really don't care about employees and it's starting to bite them in the rear these days, but I don't know if it'll make significant impact here.

DS was much happier at his second job, working his way up from counter service to manager at the movie theater.  His employees were happier, too, because he learned what not to do from the grocery store: static, overlapping shifts for workers, appropriately staffed, and treating them like human beings with other needs.  I stopped in one day after he left to deliver a message, and the two owners came to find me and tell me how great he was and how much he was missed.

[Carrie12345]

10 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

-store managers didn't really understand how to manage.  They assumed everyone there had full availability and nothing else in their lives.  The unpredictability caused high staff turnover. 

That’s an aspect I didn’t really think about; I guess it’s good, in that case, to keep people “on deck”.

And the management aspect makes me twitch. I worked a good amount of retail as a teen and young adult, and I’m all about systems and procedures. My kid comes home and shares stories, and I’m constantly telling her how I could fix the issues… given adequate staffing, lol. But that’s clearly not an option they’re willing to use.

The bait and switch truly pisses me off. Job hopping doesn’t look great, but every place lies about hours!

In this case, I’m hoping it will push dd to speed up her “deciding the future” period, but that doesn’t help everyone else dealing with this, and it’s incredibly unfair!

[Eos]

There is a lot written about this particular store's business model out there.  I think of them less as a grocery store/service provider and more like extraction capitalism - they typically set up shop in lower income areas and pay as little as possible.  Workers deal with a lot of violence on the job, according to one news story.  They are also competing for workers with Walmart and Amazon, both of which are offering $15.00/hour and other benefits vs the $8.50/hour paid by this store.

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

because he learned what not to do from the grocery store:

This might be the best takeaway for all of us who have had bad employers.

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, Eos said:

There is a lot written about this particular store's business model out there.  I think of them less as a grocery store/service provider and more like extraction capitalism - they typically set up shop in lower income areas and pay as little as possible.  Workers deal with a lot of violence on the job, according to one news story.  They are also competing for workers with Walmart and Amazon, both of which are offering $15.00/hour and other benefits vs the $8.50/hour paid by this store.

And that’s a whole OTHER thing I’d like to rant on.
My county’s children and youth department is short 21 positions right now. The non-Masters positions are offering $12-13/hr.  (Not that the Masters positions offer much more.) How do we not see the problem here???

And I’m not suggesting other places should pay less. I’m just saying, how are you supposed to get people willing to take on the enormous emotional trauma of the job iN ADDITION TO the stress of not being able to pay bills for full time work?

[AmandaVT]

My friend's son just graduated high school in January. Got a full time job at walmart stocking shelves. $17/hr with benefits and guaranteed full time hours. Our district only pays subs <$15/hr with no benefits. Guess who has no subs? 

[PaxEtLux]

 

Are they actually desperate for workers?  What would it mean for them to really be desperate for workers? How often has the store closed early or not opened because they couldn't get workers?  Are they offering hiring or retention bonuses, or (gasp) raising wages?  If this chain is the one I'm thinking of, they have been financially booming during the pandemic.

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, PaxEtLux said:

Are they actually desperate for workers?  What would it mean for them to really be desperate for workers? How often has the store closed early or not opened because they couldn't get workers?  Are they offering hiring or retention bonuses, or (gasp) raising wages?  If this chain is the one I'm thinking of, they have been financially booming during the pandemic.

I can’t speak to closing hours b/c she’s no longer scheduled to close. Not sure if that’s a big hint or not!
They’re currently advertising for an additional sales associate and two lead sales associates, so I would *think (in normal times, when logic was a thing) that there’d be much work to be done.  Like, 20+ hours for someone with full time availability.  And they aren’t offering squat in incentives.  Though there is a respectable 401k match after a full year.

The pay is above minimum wage, but my state’s minimum wage is the federal rate and embarrassing.  It’s below all the area fast food joints.

And really, the size and scope of these stores do necessitate more than 2 employees on at a time.  It’s no wonder they look like crap. Even with their new (and very poorly programmed) self-check outs.

[PaxEtLux]

4 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

And really, the size and scope of these stores do necessitate more than 2 employees on at a time.  It’s no wonder they look like crap. Even with their new (and very poorly programmed) self-check outs.

I'm sure that a lot of work is going undone, these stores always look chaotic, but until they start losing business because of it, I don't think management is actually desperate for more employees.