Strikes

[zsn]

I would suggest that Hedy Lamar and Rosalind Franklin are better examples than Einstein and cotton-field workers because here were two women who showed that they were capable of a lot but were deliberately suppressed by “The System”

[Deleted User 89]

the Franklin one always got me

[ousdahl]

[ousdahl]

sooo


Grocery stores!


Putting this here so we can discuss soon

[ousdahl]

Oh!

So grocery stores. And for that matter, many retail jobs. And not necessarily some little mom and pop shop, but megacorporate big box retail jobs, which is most of them.

For many of the positions, the pay tends to be not great, and the incentives to take the job are often less about income and more about things like, help with college tuition.

In other words, it seems the employers themselves treat the jobs as some temporary thing.

But is that the best model? What if we treated retail jobs more so as respectable careers? Didn’t they used to be?

Considering the shit most retail workers gotta put up with, and how essential they are to the economy, why don’t we?

Also bear in mind, how many of these retail companies are worth like tens of billions of dollars.

So are we better off treating those jobs as stepping stones, with incentives best centered around things like tuition or some other external opportunity? Or would the better model be to treat them as actual jobs worth sticking around for?

[twocoach]

As someone who used to have to process access requests for entry level workers at my employer, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have seen entry level workers get hired but never show up or simply stop coming to work be abuse they wanted a day off but didn't get it. The number of people who left their entry level job here in less than 6 months is stunningly high.

Employers treating entry level workers as unreliable flakes who shouldn't be invested in heavily is for good reason.

[Deleted User 89]

but that phenomenon isn’t exclusive to entry-level workers

at my facility there isn’t anyone making less than $50K, and there are regularly people calling out for “food poisoning” and other questionable health issues

i hate to blame younger generations, but these are all people 30 or younger, most of which seem to have pretty shitty work ethics generally (metering time, taking excessive bathroom breaks, etc.)

i don’t blame retailers one bit for treating employees as disposable, since it’s often the case that the employee treats their job/employer as disposable…quitting on short notice, no show-no call, etc., in addition to the bs i already mentioned

[twocoach]

but that phenomenon isn’t exclusive to entry-level workers

at my facility there isn’t anyone making less than $50K, and there are regularly people calling out for “food poisoning” and other questionable health issues

i hate to blame younger generations, but these are all people 30 or younger, most of which seem to have pretty shitty work ethics generally (metering time, taking excessive bathroom breaks, etc.)

i don’t blame retailers one bit for treating employees as disposable, since it’s often the case that the employee treats their job/employer as disposable…quitting on short notice, no show-no call, etc., in addition to the bs i already mentioned

Agreed. And I will say that my employer does a great job at identifying and rapidly upgrading entry level workers who do show dedication and drive. Those are the people who should have extras thrown at them.

Let the flakes prove that they are flakes before you invest in them. Wait to invest in good employees. You just ha e to make sure you are actively seeking to identify good employees and then investing in them. If good employees feel they aren't treated any better than the flakes then they will move on to different opportunities as well.

[Mjl]

And for the employees that do treat the job seriously, there are opportunities to move up.

I would like to see retailers do more to reward those efforts though. A person working at a grocery store's low salary gets justified by the fact that profit margins in stores are very low... But that's not really fair. If it weren't for those front-line workers, the high-margin stuff (the data generated by the sales and advertising opportunities for suppliers) would be worthless. But since there isn't a convenient way to account for that, they just pay based on direct contributions.

[Deleted User 89]

x 1,000 to your second point, twocoach

[TDub]

[TDub]

wonder if ous has considered a career in politics.

lots of pontificating and "discussion" and no action or results.

sounds about perfect.

[twocoach]

And for the employees that do treat the job seriously, there are opportunities to move up.

I would like to see retailers do more to reward those efforts though. A person working at a grocery store's low salary gets justified by the fact that profit margins in stores are very low... But that's not really fair. If it weren't for those front-line workers, the high-margin stuff (the data generated by the sales and advertising opportunities for suppliers) would be worthless. But since there isn't a convenient way to account for that, they just pay based on direct contributions.

In my opinion, there are three core categories of customer facing low wage employees in a grocery store:
1) those who are silent, do not engage with customers and just keep their heads down and do their jobs.

2) those who actively engage with customers in a positive manner and truly see themselves as a representative of the store.

3) those who complain in the presence of customers and who appear to just be there to collect a check.

I have been going to the same grocery store now for nearly 20 years and I can remember when every single member of the current managerial team was a cashier or stock person. Each of them were employees who fell into category 2 on the above list.

Most of the people who have been long time stockers or cashiers are either in category 1 or older people in category 2 who don't want to deal with the hassle of being a manager.

Most of the people who fall in to category 3 are not there for long.

[ousdahl]

Speaking of grocery stores

How much does Meijer pay to put the name on the Michigan coach’s headphones?

Posting here instead of the football board

Or the F the NCAA thread

[Overlander]

Employers treating entry level workers as unreliable flakes who shouldn't be invested in heavily is for good reason.

Truf

[ousdahl]

Where’s that line drawn?

Between that, and entry level workers treating employers as unreliable flakes who shouldn’t be invested in heavily for good reason.

[TDub]

so entry level workers should make the rules and demand more because of......what?....their experience? all the value they add prior to training? their track record of proven success? what are you basing their worth on? the employer is taking on all the risk with an entry level worker .

[ousdahl]

I’m not sure it’s so simple.

IMHO the risk is greater to the worker. The employer’s risk is mostly just economic. The worker’s is economic plus putting a lot more life and limb on the line.

Which do you think would hurt more: going bankrupt, or loosing an arm?

[TDub]

you lose a lot of arms stocking grocery shelves or running the register?

[TDub]

if the employee doesn't like it.....leave and find another entry level job. the employer has to then find and invest in re-training a new employee every time that happens. Hence why, as others have said, it behooves the empoyer to identify the self motivated and promote from within quickly to ensure they retain their investment.