Not Always What it's Cracked up to be - Retail Merchandiser Grocery Outlet Employee Review

While I worked there for a bit over 6 months, I learned the darker side of working at a grocer. It's highly unlikely to get a pay raise while working at Grocery Outlet. 5 or so of the people that had been working there for 3 or more years, either told me in private or openly stated that they hadn't been given a raise in 2 years or longer. One of the freight guys had been working there since out of high school, going on 3 years, and was really good at his job. But sadly the old and new GMs never gave him a raise for the hard work he did and for improvement over the years. I mean I get that it's unlikely to get a few bucks more per hour working that position, but not even getting a $0.50 raise in 3 years?! It was irritating to learn about this. Especially since, when I started a lot of them said that they were like family there. And it's true in a lot of ways. But sadly I've come to learn that this is a yellow flag when working in a new position. It seems to mean that management will do what they can to keep the peace without having to give anyone a raise. * If food waste is a trigger to you, I'd recommend finding another place to work. The store I worked for, had a staggeringly huge issue with food waste. The sure amount of produce, dairy products, and sometimes meats they throw away, had me shaking my head many times. It's a sign to me, that managers weren't doing a very good job of balancing out storage and putting up sales when needed, a couple of days before they go bad. I still to this day don't know why they didn't donate most of it to a food bank for a tax write-off if they had to get rid of it soon. * Being given a brand new thick sweatshirt with a Grocery Outlet logo and marketing phrase that probably cost them $40 to get instead of a gift card or straight-up cash bonus for Xmas was a slap in the face to me. And I don't think I was the only one that felt somewhat offended. It's a marketing write-off.