Formerly a very good place to work. - Deck Hand Trader Joe's Employee Review

2.0
24 July 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Building work friendships with mostly positive fun loving people, and sharing that with customers who appreciate this and consistently shop, in part because of this.

Cons

Long ago, when I started working at TJ's (1998) there was the same feeling of building these friendships with mostly fun loving loving people and... this included the management. In recent years however the gap between management and crew has opened and begun to expand, with areas from store to store of infection. This has taken away most of one of the primary ideals of the company, the entire crew is functioning as one happy, content unit. When the management is instructed to, or evolves into this fake, put on a happy face and the crew members will believe everything is peachy persona, in addition to reducing pay raises, cutting hours, then hiring new employees at lower wages, and at review periods saying that the positive fun loving people who pass this to customers are not meeting requirements so as to skip their tiny raises. This has broken the moral and disheartened the loyal crew. Crew starts to inadvertently (most of the time) pass this on to customers. What we have left is the beginning of transformation into the depressing "supermarket" scenario... lost customers.

Explore other reviews about Trader Joe's

5.0
23 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun place and good people!

Cons

Long days and busy store

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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