I hear from several sources both at the regional office as well as various levels of tenured store management that there will be another larger lay-off in January for store management. Has anyone else heard this? I’ve heard 160-180 managers will be cut, from multiple sources. The company didn’t want to let everyone go before the holidays, but they want to let everyone go before the fiscal year is over. I also heard the Atlanta regional office building was sold and that the company is downsizing the office staff and relocating some office staff to stores. I have insider information and hard documents on the most recent lay-off in terms of how many, severance packages, benefits, and agreements, if anyone from the media would like a story before this next round of layoffs.
21 replies (most recent on top)
As an hourly, (I'm one with a brain, contrary to bigwigs theory that we're all stupid) I've definately seen dirty pool. Getting worse in the last couple years. If you're of a certain age, your days are numbered. New mgmt is getting younger every wave of firings. We are operating with skeleton crews. Try working in the deli/bakery dept by yourself. Yes, I can wait on customers, slice meat, decorate cakes, work the trucks, stock the cases and shelves, complete production and cook all chicken products. Are you people insane. No, you're just trying to make us full-timers with benefits quit while you allow the teenagers at night to do barely anything. Then we are replaced with more teenagers who get paid less and don't care about benefits because they still live at home with mommy and daddy.I feel like I'm in a bad Valley Girl movie. Mngrs are so jumpy, they're giving "coaching" documentation out for things we have no control over. Theyre doing everything to protect their jobs. I don't know why any higher ups even want to work for this company. I dread going to work. Every day we are given more to do with less hours, impossible to complete. I took this job to have a less stressful job. It's a frickin grocery store, not brain surgery. But with all the paperwork and dept walks that waste over an hour a day-who's sleeping with who to come up with these crazy ideas to increase productivity?
I heard they were looking at the front end managers and grocery managers
My guess is another layoff will be the death nail. Workers are already looking to find work elsewhere while at kroger - another massive layoff will send the message to whoever they keep who were on the fence about their job security off of it and into the arms of other employers.. Investors will also run.. I don't think Rodney's fantastical lies about it all will work any more.
Hey management - this is your division/district finding scapegoats to save their jobs. (DMs VPS etc) they are going to do everything they can to blame those at the store level for missing expectation - who are running skeleton crews and being asked to hit fully staffed store expectations - like SM and ASMs. You are going to be blamed for it all. Then, they pay some of these ppl hush money that they drive out - hoping they won't leave bad reviews to others Kroger want's to s—er into relocating and working for them. That's the cycle here in Nashville.
I think they will do it in such a way (at least some of it..No one will care if they cut the bloated GO ppl) that isn't obvious because they fear scaring share holders even more and some of the work force they want to keep.. - so it will be targeted, surgical..sly and stealthy - You will just be held to a standard "meeting expectations" that can't be met by anyone.. so they can blame you when you either resign or are fired.
if you made it through the first round of firings, this is NO guarantee you will make it with this company. It's a company that can't be trusted in any way. They can just as easily change their minds or receive commands from great leader that more cuts are needed - and if your making to much money..or someone doesn't like you for w/e reason.. You are probably going to be targeted. If your in the Nashville division - you have absolutely ZERO job security from moment to moment no matter how good you are, how well your store is running, no matter how much money it's making. You need to be looking for a new job right now.. and saving up a rainy day fund -don't wait.. If they start coming in and finding fault (the same faults that are every where here in other stores that are not being written up..) and start giving you paper write ups.. your on your way out one way or another..
"Stores getting repetitive visits are targeted. Those are the store leaders getting busted or terminated. But it's not really about who gets the visit as much as it is about who doesn't get the visit.
Those not getting visited are the ones being protected." correct. There are some SM easier to fire than others due to- color, s-xual preferences, and other superficial reasons. Also the DM may just like some more than others because they are excellent brown nosers. DOCUMENT everything and keep all emails, text messages everything. If Kroger wants to play dirty - and they do - be prepared to seek legal advice and tell them you will not go without at the very least leaving them the bad reviews they so richly have earned.
To the person saying their SM was working 6-7 days 13-14 hours this is exactly what my spouse was doing to try and meet their disingenuous perfect expectations until it was obvious they had no intention of her being able to meet them and wanted her gone. So she left the company.
To the person asking about coaching sessions.. Lol.. If they sat you down and put you on any type of a "coaching plan" that says on paper the next step could include termination.. It's highly possible they are creating a paper trail so they can blame you and justify the termination that they have already predecided to do no matter how well you do, because they simply don't like you or your making to much money and they have an asm or coordinator who can do the job for far less..Basically they will find a way to say it's not good enough no matter your improvement.
some SM in Nashville division are being targeted with expectations that are completely undoable given the abysmal understaffing. I hope some of you have a rainy day fund...
They just ran my spouse off who was a store manager by setting expectations that their understaffed store would need to be fully staffed to meet. My spouse was a high paid 6 figure SM for them. We have also heard the rumors more is coming.
It is really bad at the stores. For anyone who hasn't noticed, lines to check out are backed wayyyyy up. Only two lines open at many stores - and that is at peak time. Customers refuse to use self checkout. Meanwhile store management sits up in the crow's nest above the check lines at front of the store just watching or playing on the computer. Can't they get down there and run a line?
Stores getting repetitive visits are targeted. Those are the store leaders getting busted or terminated. But it's not really about who gets the visit as much as it is about who doesn't get the visit.
Those not getting visited are the ones being protected. KIND of hard to critique a store leader if they are never visited and therefore have no bad visits on their record. I would venture to say that the store leaders being visited now are the more seasoned in tenure and more bland than the ones not being visited.
To answer some of the replies here: Yes those getting fired are already determined. It's been vetted by legal and doused in a bath of alternative supporting fictitious reasoning to support the termination. It's all built on a stack of lies that are dependent on each other. Them changing the name of one person getting fired means they have to reinvint the whole narrative and logic and they will not do that. TOO Risky.
I would really like to know if they have already decided who is being let go in January. That is just around the corner and they have to know. Just asking because our divisional president has been doing quite a few visits in our area. Supposedly, it was supposed to be visiting every store during these visits but seems to be visiting same ones over and over. Also, our DM has suddenly decided to retire.
Received my first “disciplinary” letter in 20 years this week....anyone else receiving “coaching” sessions? Feeling targeted.
The only legal way right now is to shut down the stores for several months, then reopen as non union stores and hire all new people. Or have enough of the union members vote to get rid of the union. The latter is not likely if there's a lot of the longterm employees still around, but there's fewer of them as time goes on.
"Do you think Kroger will try to break the Union, in 10-2020, when the Fry’s union contract is up?"
How can you break a union? Is it even legal? I know they would absolutely love to. Got to say, I feel sorry for the managers that didn't get fired (at least the ones who work). My SM is working six and seven days a week, thirteen to sixteen hour days. This guy is physically working his butt off. I can't even imagine if they take more ASM's out of the store.
Do you think Kroger will try to break the Union, in 10-2020, when the Fry’s union contract is up?
Any information about the Louisville Division?
Not from the media, but I would love to know how many people they actually let go company wide. Also, in the next round do they already know who they are firing?