What is it like working at Aldi?

robatwork

1886 wrote: »

I remember having a few issues with shoplifters, basically an organised gang who would make a distraction and then try and walk out with a big TV. This happened once and I was told I should have gone after them!

Now this is weird. Every supermarket I have been to in the last few years, including Aldi and Lidl, have a security person by the exit at all times. In Aldi they are prowling around the exit on foot. And it's they who would be expected to go after a shoplifter, not the floor staff.

Did your Aldi not have a guard?

shortcrust

robatwork wrote: »

Now this is weird. Every supermarket I have been to in the last few years, including Aldi and Lidl, have a security person by the exit at all times. In Aldi they are prowling around the exit on foot. And it's they who would be expected to go after a shoplifter, not the floor staff.

Did your Aldi not have a guard?

Unlike my local Tesco and Sainsburys, my local Aldi doesn't have anybody by the exit and no obvious security staff at all.

elsien

Mine doesn't - when I told them someone was walking out with vodka hidden under their coat the cashier pressed a buzzer and the staff came piling out of the office/staff room to go after them.

robatwork

You two live in nicer neighbourhoods than me then!

kingrulzuk

at my local Aldi, all I can see is 2 staff and 1 manager no matter what time I go and no security for sure.
all I can say is they do pay their staff £8.50 but they make them work for the money.

carlislelass

What was the problem with working out change in your head

SomeRandomGuy

My local store is often advertising and seems to have a high turn over of staff. The money is good but what would put me off is that whenever I'm in there the staff are rushing around like headless chickens working absolutely flat out. They also wear these walky talky headsets now so the staff are in constant communication with each other about the next job to do.... which from a customer point of view is a bit disconcerting when you are at the till and the cashier is talking to someone you can't see.

The workload is a very noticeable difference when compared to the likes of Sainsbury or Morrisons where the staff seem to work at a more leisurely pace. I notice the staff are nearly always fit and younger where as the other supermarkets seem to employ quite a few older staff.

DCFC79

Yes it's a very varied shift, you can be on a till for 2 hours and then filling canned goods or refilling the frozen foods.

WantToBeSE

1886 wrote: »

I worked at ALDI as a store assistant ten years ago. I left after three months.

The store was very new and my shifts and hours were sporadic. I was'nt given as many hours as I was told I would have at interview. They blamed this on the store not being as busy as they had hoped. The lack of full time hours was one of the reasons I left. I cant remember how many hours I was working a week but I imagine it was around twenty five, it certainly was'nt anywhere near full time I can remember that much.

Yes it is true ALDI do pay more than the big supermarkets but on the other hand you will be expected to work alot harder. We used to have three members of staff on at a time and often one (ast manager) would be in the office which left me to go on the till as I was new (everybody hated going on the till) and the other employee would be putting stock out.

If/when the queue got longer than the check out you have to ring the buzzer so another till can be opened. This was always greeted with alot of anger by the other member of staff, usually ast manager but what can you do?

If you go in to do an 'open' you will have to check maybe 6-8 cages of fruit and vegetables. I'm 6.4' and they were stacked so full that they were higher than me. You have to check off every single item in each cage, ALDI would purposely send too little or too much sometimes to see if you were checking them off and not just putting them on the shelves. It's not an easy job and certainly not enjoyable.

I remember doing a 'close' and often the ast manager would tell me not to bother cleaning the aisle floors so we could get away quicker. They looked quite filthy.

I remember having a few issues with shoplifters, basically an organised gang who would make a distraction and then try and walk out with a big TV. This happened once and I was told I should have gone after them!

I remember very rarely getting a break, when I asked to go on a break the other staff used to get very stroppy. I think people just did'nt take them as the store was ran on a shoestring.

I knew very early on that it was'nt for me so decided to get out sooner rather than later. What I will say is that this was ten years ago and I've been in to my local ALDI (not the one I worked at) a number of times and they do seem to have more staff on now. Also I may just have been at a badly ran store. The manager was relocated as soon as I started, he was only there on my first shift so that did'nt help as he had'nt been replaced by the time I left.

When you go to your local ASDA or Tesco and you see somebody with a big cage putting all the stock out on the shop floor and just taking their time just remember that at ALDI you get given a set time to do that job.

I used to go as fast as I could on the till but it was never good enough. The problem you also have is that if you get old people they are very slow with putting the food in the trolley and ALDI don't want customers to pack at the till. You will always get people that want to pack at the till, you can ask them not to but they will still try. I suggest shopping at a local ALDI at a busy period to see what it's like, they slam your shopping across the till. I also had to work out the change in my head as back then the tills did'nt tell you how much they change was which was another pain but you're lucky as they do now.

I'd say go for the interview as you may land on a well ran store and you can climb the ladder and get to management fairly quickly and it's very well paid. I just know that Retail is not for me, the customers were'nt an issue, I just want my weekends for family and hobbies

Thanks so much for such an in depth reply.
A lot of what you say are the same things that i read online when researching.
I often go into my local Aldi, and have never seen only 3 staff members there, so hopefully it looks like things have improved since your time there.

Can you remember how often you are expected to work weekends? I see online that Morrisons say 1 weekend in 3, but not sure if that's true.
My mum works in a supermarket and she has to work every other weekend.

Re a guard near the exit- I've never seen one in my local Aldi.

A few things attract me to Aldi- it's within walking distance (10 min walk), the rate of pay is good (compared to other retail) and it always seems busy.

My other local supermarket is a Morrisons, so i'll research what its like to work there as well.

I live in a small rural (ish) town, so getting a job in town is crucial unless i want to spend a LOT of money on commuting.

shortcrust

The staff in my local Aldi tend to look very busy but relatively happy in their work. In my local Tesco they look bored and miserable and appear to have plenty of time to loudly complain about customers and management. I'd choose Aldi.