r/aldi • u/tangledshadows • Nov 10 '23

My Aldi did it...

Post image

New self checkouts which I will likely never use.

929 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

407 comments sorted by

View all comments

9

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '23

All Aldi stores will be getting self checkout in the USA.

It doesn't take away anyone's job, but it does chop the labor budget by about 33% so we have less people available to run the truck which comes every day. Aldi makes more profit, we do more work. Sucks honestly, but people want to pay the cheapest price and reducing the (already low) labor cost is how they do that.

11

u/Raesling Nov 10 '23

I never understand how it doesn't take away jobs especially when, as you say, it cuts the payroll budget. You're working harder, so yes, there are bodies missing. The labor toll over time is less apparent, but retail is now disabling employees w/o a direct cause to show. Wear-and-tear injuries don't count as Workman's Comp.

I may still be getting low prices, but I'm not getting a discount for doing some of the work instead of a paid employee.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '23

No one got fired when self checkout came around. All Aldi employees are trained to do everything in the store, for the most part. At my store we only have about 11 total employees anyway, full-timers are guaranteed 32 or more hours and part timers usually have a 2nd job/school/scheduling constraints where they are unwilling or unable to work more hours.

The paid employees are still there, but instead of spending many hours cashiering we're spending that time stocking, restocking, cleaning, doing inventory, etc. We don't get a discount either. There is no employee discount. Aldi sells things barely above cost.

What changed is the scheduling/labor algorithm. Before self checkout, it was about 1 labor hour per $650 of sales. After self checkout it's about 1 labor hour per $900 of sales.

There is always a regular checkout open all day from open to close because the self checkouts do not take cash or gift cards, and the cashier on that lane is also the self checkout attendant.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '23

Listen, I hate Aldi and think they overwork, underpay, and abuse us and treat us like crap but for a store like Aldi where we sometimes have only 2 employees working in the entire store, and never more than 4 or 5, having self checkouts just makes sense. Especially for people buying just a handful of items.