Pros
The work is interesting, the customers diverse. Part-time employees now have the chance to purchase stock after they meet requirements, something that previously was unavailable to them.
Cons
Despite what they say about how wonderful it is to become a full-time employee in orientation, and how easy it is to become one, if you aren't hired as one you will likely never be one. The stores have a ration of full-time to part-time employees that they maintain, and someone has to leave, retire, or die before the store manager even thinks about moving up a part-time employee. So, you get virtually no benefits, outside of a free flu-shot once a year and some mediocre insurance plans. My husband's employer (that has less than 25 employees) has much better insurance. Orientation also tells you that Publix is an employee-owned company, and it is great to have stock. You have to work 1000-1500 hours in a single year (depending on what type of stock program you want to get into), which is super hard for part time employees. Their mission statement states among other things that they value the happiness and employability of their employees... but they don't. At least not more than any other company I have ever worked at. I am constantly scheduled for 5-8 hours without a scheduled break, and they don't care if I get one. Many corners are cut for time. And if you talk to a manager (they claim to have an open door policy where you can talk to anyone in the food chain), even if you ask for anonymity, it is NEVER anonymous. You are told to greet everyone who passes 10 feet from you within 10 seconds, which begins to feel like harassment during busy days. Should a customer complain about a mistake on a cake or order, customer service will never ask you for your side of things, they will give the customer the items at a discount or free and then dress you down, sometimes in front of the customer.If you volunteer to work outside of your requested hours just once you will then be expected to do it forever. You get no increase in pay for cross-training. If the department is shorthanded, you will be expected to work two jobs for the same pay, and if you are good at it, it will become permanent. If you are not, you will be "counselled," aka verbally scolded for not being a team player.