What was meant as a high school job became a golden handcuff career - Department Manager Safeway Employee Review

2.0
Mar 5, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The majority of the employees are in the same boat and exhibited a great sense of comradarie. Some of my best friends are from Safeway. The compensation was certainly adequate, and the benefits were outstanding (assuming one was on the "old" contract grandfathered in from 10 years ago).

Cons

As the years rolled on, the atmosphere became more oppressive daily. Upper management (District mangers and upwards, as well as various deparment MDOs) was increasingly filled by condescending, self important, narcisistic individuals who have spent all of their time on their business degree rather than working with actual people in the stores. The amount of unnecessary paperwork that would clog up ones workday became intolerable, coupled with the fact that hours were constantly being cut to continue to feed the bottom line, making it nearly impossible to fill the department. Department mangers had to choose which task they could complete, as doing both was not possible and they were usually by themselves for most of the day. Fill out the paperwork, or fill the department to actually achieve sales. If they filled out the paperwork, management would want to know why the department wasn't filled, and if they filled the department first, then management would want to know why the paperwork wasn't complete. It is a vicious circle that is designed for failure. The company offers one way to suceed and one hundred ways to fail. The number of audits had spiraled out of control in the last year I worked for them as well.

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5.0
Mar 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Pay and coworkers were all amazing

Cons

Hours were weird sometimes, but mostly chill

3.0
Jun 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly environment and great co-workers. Being a floral clerk was hands down my favorite customer service job I've worked. Made some nice friends working there, and the stress of work was easily handled because of the friendly people.

Cons

Seniority was definitely a thing. I was expected to take shifts that the other people didn't want until someone newer came along, and then I had seniority over them. Upper management for the store was also the worst. They would take credit for our department's hard work and shift blame onto us for oversights or actions on their part. Once I got promoted to admin, I saw how little they cared about their employees. They would make passing comments and openly admit to giving certain employees who were "problem people" bad shifts or deny their requests for days off. I was in charge of making the schedule and would be told not to give certain people the days they wanted that week, even if they were within their availability, just to make things difficult for them. They also don't promote from within. I was asked to be the interim manager when our manager went on maternity leave. I stepped up and took on manager duties despite not getting a pay raise. When my manager decided she wanted to move stores, she was hoping I would be given the role permanently. Instead, they decided to bring in someone from another store, and I had to train her to be a floral manager at ours. They did eventually promote me to store admin, but my passion was working in floral. I agreed on the promotion as long as I could still work in the floral department, but they eventually phased me out of that role. Literally tricked me into taking a promotion and then falling back on the terms we agreed on.

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