Pros
They hire anyone Job experience Easy to impress management (just don't be lazy!) Discount on Safeway brand merchandise Hours given to employees who work hard (IF management likes you) Easy to transfer to different departments and learn ins and outs of a grocery store
Kontras
Absurd "secret shopper" program. Seems to have gotten bloated and over-emphasized since it's creation. Why are they spending money on this instead of paying employees better? Incredible amount of micro-management, to the point where you're unable to do your job! Same sense that the programs started decades ago have since become bloated and distracting. Probably due to new CEO's trying to impress the company with their new ideas. Some ideas (for instance, having employees make recommendations to customers based on items in their cart/basket, which is crossing a line. If I'm buying preparation H, I don't want an employee snooping through my groceries with their eyes.) Union dues for employees making min wage, and the union(s) seemed to have no teeth whatsoever. Due to poor communication, I was under the impression new employees didn't pay dues for the first 6 months. Well, apparently I should have been paying from Day 1, and for the rest of my time there, I had to pay $50 in union dues a month, taken from my minimum wage paycheck. And for what? The union only came in to talk to us when they were holding elections. Completely unhelpful. No performance based pay raises, no real reward for working harder than someone else unless you're sucking up to management (and even then, the only way to get a pay raise to take on more soul-crushing responsibilities). Horrible scheduling practices, much like all grocery stores it seems. I had a co-worker who never said "no" to more hours, and she was worked so hard that she slept in her car between shifts. This happened to her constantly, and after 7 years there she wouldn't get another raise from her $14/hr. Absolutely terrible. The list goes on, but I don't want anyone to disregard this as just an angry rant. Safeway is truly an unpleasant place to work, and don't expect to feel appreciated in the slightest.