Hard work for little pay - Crew Member Trader Joe's Employee Review

1.0
18 Feb 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The environment is entertaining and the workers are great people

Cons

The heavy work load at 5am/12am is very strenuous and the people who do open/close don't get paid any more than the people that don't do anything during the mid-day shift. Management is very bad, and they don't listen to the requests of their employees. It's a very caddy workplace, reminds me of highschool, everyone has an opinion about someone else or how they do things but won't address it directly to them, aka a lot of gossip. Oh, and you basically have to pretend you're happy all the time. The schedule is also very terrible. One day you'll work 9am-5pm to open the next day at 5am, which basically means 3 hours of free time before you have to go to sleep. So your entire sleep structure is destroyed. I would only recommend this job for people trying to get on their feet.

Explore other reviews about Trader Joe's

5.0
8 July 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great place to work all around

Cons

Nothing really bad to say

4.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Great way to meet people, socialize, and learn customer service -Always tasked with different things every hour -Friendly crew who will always help you to learn and get better at your job -Get a slight pay raise every 6 months -No outside commitments and amazing benefits if you work full time (about 28 hours a week for every 6 months) -Will take time, but find your friend group, stay with them and have fun, you can't please everybody -Care for your body, do not overdo it with physical labor, its a retail job and you only have one fragile body for yourself, get help or insist about your pains

Cons

-Not many, unless you are stuck in a bad store with bad management -I had some good luck of working in 3 great stores, so YMMV -Sometimes can get cliquey like you are back in high school -Getting promoted up to store management may involve buttering up and being a "yes-person" -Care for your body, do not overdo it with physical labor, its a retail job and you only have one fragile body for yourself, get help or insist about your pains

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