Trader Joe's reviews

4.1

81% would recommend to a friend

(10,585 total reviews)
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Bryan Palbaum

73% approve of CEO

71% positive business outlook

Trader Joe's has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 10,585 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Trader Joe's employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

11K reviews
3.0
Dec 13, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Small store = less product to worry about -Lots of food to eat -Some neat odd jobs I get to perform -Always something to do -Customers are generally easy to work with -Close feeling with crew

Cons

-Full-timers, in the sense that you have multiple, different personalities and management styles on any given day, or at any random time. Every day you have a different manager with a different style of leadership (if you can call it that with some full timers). It can get very annoying at times. Plus, the full timers you really enjoy working with, usually get transferred out at any time. -Pay, is reasonable, not the greatest. I have seen better from other stores like Wegmans, Harris Teeter, and Costco. -Schedules, unless you have been there for 5+ years, or you have some sort of "Seniority" over others, you will never have any sort of set schedule. You can work 3pm-12am one day, then turn around and work a 9am-2pm shift the next day. The next week, you will work all mornings (5am-1:30pm) and then work all midnights (3pm-12am) the following week. Bottom line, it is difficult to keep up a steady sleep cycle, or attempt to live some of your life without taking days off, but I guess this is just another day in the life of retail. -Stores have generally small floor plans i.e. Tiny backrooms and loading docks, if you have one. During holiday seasons, it gets downright busy and very crowded, not to mention the back-stock that is just stacking up in the back, making everything a chore to do in the back room.

1.0
Dec 1, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Trader Joe's offers decent pay compared to similar jobs in the grocery/retail industry, decent benefits, and (usually) a flexible work schedule.

Cons

I've worked at Trader Joe's for 4.5 years, and it's done a complete 180 in that time (at least in my region, anyway). At this point I'm convinced that the term "hostile work environment" was created to describe Trader Joe's. As others have said, Trader Joe's is all about the bottom line now. Once you reach a certain salary, they begin targeting you (as if my barely 20K a year is some unheard of salary that the store can't afford to pay). Trader Joe's will never fire an employee unless they are stealing or engaging in some sort of activity that could lead to the store finding itself in some hot water. They will, however, do anything they can to get you to quit. They will change your schedule, change your duties, schedule you only one day a week, and much more. If you're a full-timer, they'll demote you to part time without hesitation (causing you to lose upwards of 40K a year). You will also be written up for literally nothing at all, preventing you from receiving a raise. I know I may sound like someone who has a problem with my store, but honestly, I've seen this pattern repeated at least a dozen times over my tenure at Trader Joe's. Once I passed the $16/hr mark at my last review, I was told that my salary "costs the store too much money," and it was immediately after that that they began targeting me and playing these hostile games. Our regional manager is awful and pushes captains to treat their crews like garbage. If they don't, they'll be demoted and a new Captain who is willing to play the game will be brought in. Trader Joe's used to be the kind of place that would work very hard to make its employees happy, but it's now turned into the type of place that will drive you out and replace you with someone who is happy to work for $10/hr.

3.0
Nov 23, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You get to taste the food,the benefits package is good

Cons

You have to smile all the time, there are 4am shifts you must work and most of the time its an 8 hr shift,your hours are not promised,most employees shouldnt be trusted

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