Pros
Overall the company is very flexible. Very easy to transfer departments and even stores. Pretty flexible with hours also. In my time there, moved from sacker to cashier to pharmacy tech and I know others that worked in multiple departments. A great thing is, they almost always hire from within and there is plenty of room for advancement. I saw many fellow employees be promoted within the store as well as landing big promotions at other stores. As for the pharmacy, PIC has much more say in decisions and policy than corporate giant competitors. Also, much more understanding and flexible than other pharmacy chains and are willing to take new techs and students and train. Time off was very flexible, no issues getting off for events and vacations and things. Customer service is first priority which is great and there are secret shoppers but you are not constantly being surveyed and scored like other retail stores. I worked with some really wonderful people in my store and made some really great friends. Overall the atmosphere was pretty laid back and enjoyable. Hy-Vee also is very involved in the community and spends a lot of time and money helping with fundraisers and scholarships. A lot of good people with good values.
Cons
The company is somewhat disorganized due to their lack of corporate policy. Store Directors have a lot of say in what happens with each store and can make or break your experience with the company. Raises are said to be given every year and upon position and department moves, however the timing and amounts of these raises were so inconsistent between each employee. Had to remind HR/manager every year when it was time for my review which then took another 3 months to get done just to get a minimal raise even with a perfect score on review. Employees were treated different based on their relationships with management. Pay was minimal to average and breaks were mostly nonexistent for evening/weekend pharmacy techs. Biggest con for pharmacy: CENTRAL FILL. 30+% of all prescriptions are now being filled at an off-site, central location for all stores and shipped to each pharmacy each day. This is a cost-cutting and "streamlining" decision made by corporate which ultimately results in a headache for workers and management being forced to drastically cut hours. This was the deal breaker for me, you are forced to push auto-refill and fill as many scripts centrally as possible which ultimately results in a smaller script count in store and your hours getting changed and/or cut.
