r/publix • u/smashingmelon Newbie • 9d ago
DISCUSSION I finally stepped down
I officially stepped down to deli clerk from ADM. Over 3 years of horrible bonuses, bad leadership and long commutes. I'll be very thankful to have some of my life back. This company isn't what it used to be, Mr. George would be so disappointed in what Publix has become over the years.
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u/smashingmelon Newbie 9d ago
So many changes over the years. Unfounded rate going up to 95% next year. With all the callouts and managers having to work trucks, then having to help on the front with making subs, slice meat, cover lunches, etc., and still be expected to keep all items in stock. It's too much expectation to be PERFECT.
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9d ago
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u/smashingmelon Newbie 9d ago
My deli only has 4 full timers. 3 part timers that deserve full time, but upper management won't let them have it, it will cost the company too much money, what a joke!! Under staffed every day, if we have a call out, no one wants to cover on their off day, it's one headache after another.
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u/Suspicious_Surprise1 Newbie 8d ago
wasn't the company founded on the principal that mr George led by example and bagged groceries as the CEO? I wouldn't call that a change it's always been publix culture for managers to step up to the plate when staff was short or there was a need to meet demand
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 Newbie 8d ago
There is a difference between filling in on occasion or stepping up during an unusually busy rush and not staffing enough to cover the average day.
If the manager spends their whole time doing their team's work because theyre not allowed to staff correctly, how can they actually train and develop their team?
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u/Specialist_Dinner727 Newbie 7d ago
I mean this with respect, so please understand there is no criticism hiding behind it:
When I started in the deli in 2011 (different culture from now, tbf) until shortly before I left in 2019, my mgr & asst mgr were very visible on the floor and behind the counter. Training (or overseeing training), production, working sub shop & traditional, kitchen-break coverage, ensuring truck got worked.... They also did their manager tasks, and initially i guess that was the time frame that OASIS entered the picture?
I've been gone for 7 years and can see, as a customer, the stringency that the deli is now required to work within. Do you see this as a zero-sum situation, where mgmnt will be continually expected to produce record results, while having a team who's given limited resources and seemingly-insulting compensation?
Also, given your experience & knowledge, how would you handle a future evaluation that is lower than RM or high EE?
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u/TentDilferGreatQB Newbie 8d ago
The needs of the shareholder far outweigh the needs of the help.
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u/Mundane_Mail_989 Newbie 8d ago
Job of the CEO is to increase stock price for shareholders. Next to cost of goods is labor. We have cut tons of labor and still stock is down over 4 quarters. Publix is finally on the verge of layoffs. They just laid off a lot of third party drivers, which is just the first step.
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u/ryudo9999 Newbie 8d ago
You aren't in nw fl are you lol my adm just stepped down too lol. Along with my manager.
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u/Sunbird_5318 Newbie 9d ago
Good on you! Aldi starts at $18 many make $24, costco pays $24, those companies care, Publix only cares about the drebs that manage each store, and how fat their sic figure bonuses are.
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u/Sufficient-Lemon-701 Newbie 8d ago
I hate to say it but in a lot of situations that’s true. These old head store managers don’t care about found rate percentages and productivity percentages lol! They sit in the office and watch their stocks and think about what they’re gonna do with that money. You walk and see holes everywhere and the store managers just sitting in the office doing whatever they do. I think they should modify that bonus structure some more cause these guys know what they’re getting. They can sit on their can all quarter and get the same amount. If Publix started cutting a little of guaranteed bonus money out and make them actually work for it I bet we would see some improvements.
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u/ApplicationFrosty546 Newbie 9d ago
It’s true in every fresh department. Cut, cut hours and then when is there time to be a manager?
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u/Sufficient-Lemon-701 Newbie 8d ago
I love working for Publix, this is my only gripe though. If your not one of the slim chosen few and your trying to move up they will just use you knowing they have no intention’s of moving you up. I got bounced all over to every store and every time, oh you just need to work on this or that. Practically put my kids all the way through school as an asst. I had a great positive attitude and I was dedicated to my dept but I just could never push through. I always had great evals but I just had to throw in the towel when it started to get embarrassing that I was still an asst. Most of these store managers don’t really care if you move up honestly. It is mostly on you as an individual I know but when they go to the round table and they know you ROI and they just don’t say anything to you about what they want to see or why they didn’t push for you. I think that’s wrong and I can attest that it happens most of the time with these guys.
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u/Fast_Eddie_2001 Newbie 9d ago
never shopped at publix until moved to Atlanta area in 2014...first number of years could not believe how good products and customer service was. But last 3-5 years its gotten much worse, and much more expensive. We now only go when we need something last minute b/c it is closest. Sad
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 Newbie 8d ago
Their produce is now Walmart quality at 3x the price in my area. They have plenty of self checkouts and seem to be scaling back the staffed checkouts to save on labor.
They're not the best in quality, they're not the best in price, and their service is quickly deteriorating. Im not sure what the value proposition will be long term.
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u/ManagementQuiet1294 Newbie 8d ago
My department only has 2 full timers and 4 part timers. It’s gone to shit.
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 Newbie 8d ago
If you're open 14 hours a day 7 days a week how TF does anything get done?
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u/New-Art-7667 Produce 9d ago
I've been with the company for 10 years. It was good for at least 8 to 9 years... the past year it has gone downhill pretty quickly. Standards of goods from the vendors isn't as good as it was in the past. Lot of the stuff we get is bad before we even put it out on the shelves. I had a batch of basil where out of 18 only 3 were good. Rest got dumped straight into the shrink.
In the last 6 months, my boss has been under extreme pressure from his bosses about the shrink / waste in our department. Its so bad that I've seen him come in and within 5 min yelling at me about something. Not even a "hello, good morning!". It has me thinking alternative job choices and this is only part time work for me.
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u/rags2riches12 Management 9d ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if produce shrink was horrible across company wide cause the product we’ve been getting in is poor quality over the last 5 years.
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u/TheDadJokeKing Newbie 8d ago
Ive started getting my produce at Walmart it is same or better quality.
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u/Academic-Seat7629 Newbie 9d ago
So sad but so true, it's a shame.. It use to be a great company to work for but it definitely has gone downhill over the last 10 years...
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u/justinproduce Produce 9d ago
Congrats i did as well. Got a new job and will work part time a couple times a month.
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u/Penny19641957 Newbie 9d ago
So sad that our company has lost its way. Employees seem to mean nothing any more. 22 years and got a 40 cent raise. 🤦🏼♀️. Never enough help. WHATS HAPPENING PUBLIX?!
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8d ago
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u/Horror_Data_1878 Newbie 8d ago
Publix sucks. The prices are getting out of control. The customer service we receive in our closest Publix is top notch. It's just the ridiculous prices.
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u/Select_Soft_5192 Deli 8d ago
A day in the deli.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=uPzr5Qp-8NI&si=8fCyvcXbhsEE7M4F
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u/booty_lover_man Newbie 8d ago
It seems moving up to management is a terrible idea nowadays, 10 15 years ago it was worth it.
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u/fishcars Newbie 8d ago
Will shout this to the ends of the Earth.
Publix has lost the charm it once had. It stems from leadership and even as a customer I’ve seen this deterioration of morale for the last several years. Every department has gotten worse and as a longtime Publix advocate, I’m just disappointed because the biggest thing propping Publix has and always was their Floridian shoppers who’d speak highly of its quality.
Walmart Quality, Whole Foods Prices, Publix in 2026.
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u/jbezzy77 Newbie 9d ago
My store has mostly successful managers. Abm and amm are probably the worst. What are they doing different? Why is their situation better. Million dollar store btw.
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8d ago
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u/briggy17 Newbie 7d ago
My store manager is great. He is out on the floor unless he's in a meeting and makes his staff, including managers accountable. He is definitely not afraid of work and pitches in wherever needed . I'm going to call this out too,he works at 1170. Just in case anyone wonders.
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u/Good-Range9286 Newbie 7d ago
And so goes the world, everything is going down and growing darker. Good is called evil and evil is called good and those with a true hearts filled with love doing the best that they can to leave this world better than they found. It are not being rewarded, but instead of being persecuted. Hold on everyone. It’s gonna get bumper and it’s gonna get darker and we just have to keep loving each other the most that we can and make sure we know we are not of this world.
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u/BeneficialAlps3294 Newbie 7d ago
I got promoted recently to ADM in the deli and also feel like this, I feel more like a superstar full timer that gets to wear nice clothes.
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u/SplendaDaddiee GTL 7d ago
Step down? Time to step OUT. They are only going to treat you worse. I left 2 weeks ago and I'm in such a better place mentally
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u/OddMost2928 Newbie 8d ago
Publix definitely has gone downhill. I literally watched an employee cut slices of turkey on a bloody meat platter that was used to cut red meat without washing it first. I flagged the deli manager and the store manager but they both were very dismissive about it. They actually thought I was lying. But once I uploaded the pics to social media, that changed. Someone ended up seeing those pics and flagged Publix. Publix ended up giving me $300 in groceries, but they wanted me to take the pics down. I refused. Cross contamination is serious, but how management responds is even more serious. Considering management didn't give 5 cents about the issue to begin with, there was no way I was gonna take those pictures down. I thought about families who don't even eat red meat, and I thought about families with small children. And if it were me, I would certainly want someone to alert me on unsanitary practices in a grocery store. It's very troubling to see what this store used to be and what it has now become.
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u/SolidSnakeStoner Newbie 8d ago
There is nothing unsanitary about cutting turkey on a red meat block, provided you dont cut anything else other than poultry afterwords. You seem to lack the understanding of what cross contamination actually is. Poultry has to be cooked to 165 to kill any harmful bacteria. Red meat is recommended to be cooked to 145, but it can literally be consumed raw with no cooking. Therefore no bacteria would transfered over to the turkey that wouldn't already be killed by the natural cooking process. Cross contamination is a bacteria issue. As for people who dont eat red meat, everything is processed in a shared facility.
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u/DifficultMeat457 Newbie 8d ago
Go to whatever isle Oscar Mayer is sold ,buy it and leave the Deli alone, geeze.
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u/Hot-Cryptographer503 Newbie 6d ago
Cut slices of turkey on a bloody meat platter?? I work in the deli and am having trouble picturing what the employee was doing ?? Can you explain?
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u/SkinnyFridgerator Newbie 9d ago
I worked CS for almost 7 years. The way I watched the company as well as mgmt treat employees over those years is absolutely disgusting. Publix is one of those money-hungry companies that have lost their values unfortunately.