Trader Joe's reviews

I was with Trader Joe's long enough to know what it USED to be like. Believe me, I LOVED my job for a long time. However, in recent years, Trader Joe's has demonstrated that they no longer care about their employees or the core values that they traditionally have held in high regard. "Integrity," "No Bureaucracy," "Neighborhood Grocery Store" - PFFFT, what a joke. Of course much of the employee experience stems from the specific management team you are currently working with, but the company as a whole has gone way downhill as far as showing appreciation for their hard-working crew. Benefits and bonuses have decreased, and the current review process is unfair and subjective (it is now an all-or-nothing system vs. the sliding scale it used to be). Communication between managers and feedback towards crewmembers is essentially nonexistent. Therefore, you quite likely will have no idea what might come up in your biannual review (oftentimes things that aren't even true). It also all depends on if the mate writing your review likes you or not. And of course there is no way to "prove" that any falsities in your performance reviews are untrue. Management's word against yours. It is so heartbreaking and discouraging to be told you are doing a terrible job, without having ANY indication you were doing anything wrong the entire time you had been working so hard. They have absolutely no hesitations in throwing you under the bus. When you try to talk with managers, they pretend to listen, but never attempt to make any actual changes. Many of them are clearly only looking out for themselves. On the same note, they have an employee satisfaction survey, but nothing ever comes of it and it is never spoken about again. I always wondered if they even bother reading them. Absolutely no accountability at any level. Training is a joke. You can and will be reprimanded for doing something wrong when you were never actually taught the correct way. Hours get cut for veteran crewmembers while they continue to hire rounds and rounds of new people. So disrespectful for people who worked for years to earn the shifts that they rely on to survive. Turnover used to be very minimal, but just continues to increase - that should really tell you something. They used to foster the individuality and quirkiness of their crewmembers, which was part of the whole fun Trader Joe's shopping experience. Customers loved it. But it is clearly not what they are going for anymore, as many of the "old timers" (crew AND management) have been forced out to make way for the new way of doing things. Hopefully they will be able to find hoards of painfully boring yes-men to fit the profile they are apparently looking for now. They're going to have a lot of spots to fill from all of the veteran crewmembers they've alienated and pushed out of the company. Have fun working for a bunch of spineless corporate shills. Favoritism and sexism also run rampant in every store I've worked in. Typical Boys Club in most stores. The company has changed tremendously in the last 4-5 years, and unfortunately not for the better. As they continue to expand, it is clear that Trader Joe's is becoming just like every other miserable national grocery store chain. This used to be a company that I could see myself working at forever, but after almost 8 years I left the company with a very unpleasant taste in my mouth. Such a shame when all I ever did was sing the highest praises of my job and the company I had been with for a large portion of my life. I took a large paycut in order to rid my life of an emotionally abusive employer and grueling physical labor, and to be honest, I'm making the same now as I was at Trader Joe's because at least I get 40 hours a week at my new job. Please read the other critical reviews. I promise they are not lying. There are so many others, many of whom were with the company as long as or longer than me, who have had the same experiences I have.