Pros
-Great way to earn a decent wage without a college degree. You don't even need a H.S. degree, I believe. -You can get a raise every six months. It's not guaranteed but it's pretty easy to get...Just do the work and be nice. Don't call out or show up late all the time. -Dental and vision available if you work 3-days a week. Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield if you work 30hrs a week. You can accomplish this by working 5 days a week or 4 days and picking up someone's shift every now and then. You can also work at night and stay late to reach the total number of hours required during a measurement period (every 6 months). -Since there are over 200ppl working there you have a good chance of working the schedule you want. Some people like to work early in the morning. Others like to work at night. Many have 2nd jobs, school and/or other obligations. -The managers are really positive for the most part. When you start they're patient and understanding. As long as you do your best, they're cool. -Your co-workers end up being like a family. There are some really good people you will work with. -TJs contributes the equivalent of 10% of what you earn to a 401K. You don't have to match it. They do it on their own. It just takes about 6yrs for it to fully vest.
Cons
-It can be really, REALLY exhausting. You'll be lifting heavy boxes of apples and jars of sauces and gallons of milk. Even the older crew in their 50s and 60s hustle. We work even harder when the store is closed. In the morning we’re scrambling to get ½ the store packed out before we open and at night we’re scrambling to get the other ½ of the store packed out so we’re not there after 2-3am. -If you want to earn more money, the only way to do it is to become a manager (mate). Crew members train new people and write orders for different sections of the store but receive no extra pay for it. Writing an order is a huge responsibility as it can mean not enough kale or too much that ends up going bad. It can directly affect the profitability of the store. -Speaking of mates, if you become one, you'll be expected to work 10hr shifts, will be bounced to different stores sometimes on a day’s notice and if you close at night, you'll have to stay until everything is completed no matter what. -Which brings me to another issue. If you close at night and have to leave at your designated time, the mates won't say anything but will be disappointed if you don't finish your section...Why? Because they'll have to do it. -There's no human resources department. At the Brooklyn (Court St.) Store there are around 250 employees working there. The general manager (Captain) is your judge and jury. He can fire you at will. Fortunately he's pretty cool so you won't have to worry about walking on eggshells. Still, it would be nice to have an HR Dept. for sexual harassment, racism and inappropriate behavior issues that arise. -For example, there's a person who has been writing the order for one of our most important sections for years. He calls his female co-workers, “baby” and “honey” instead of their names and has a macho attitude when talking to the guys. He’s a hard worker but many people don’t like to work in this section because of it including me. The captain, however, has an incentive to keep him in that capacity; it’s better for the store’s profitability. The worker has no incentive to change his behavior. He’s been in that same position for years and the captain is supposed to change the roles of the employees so no one person does the same thing and nothing else. I don't want to say anything because I have no faith that my concerns will remain anonymous.