Regarding that night shelf-stacking job that I started about 5 weeks ago at a local supermarket, it isn’t going well, unfortunately. 🙁

Not that I expected it to be easy, and I certainly hoped that I wouldn’t need to do it for more than a few months, but the level of toxicity there has surprised me and caught me off guard somewhat.

I just had a performance review and was told they would get rid of me in a month if I didn’t work significantly faster.

One of the night team-leaders has been riding me constantly after she put me on an aisle on my 3rd night where I had no clue where things went. and I was admittedly struggling. This was reported straight up to her manager and it seems I have become the ‘problem child’ she needs.

One issue is that the regular crew or ‘old timers’ tend to look after just one or two aisles or depts of the store, so they know where everything goes like the back of their hand. I’m one of several who is expected to fill in where necessary anywhere in the store. Did I mention that it’s a massive store with a huge range? Regardless, I’m supposed to fulfil a particular quota of x number of cases per hour. Only it’s not objectively measured but estimated by the team leader. Anyway, it’s very tough to work fast on the aisles that have loads of SKUs (like booze or sweets).
In contrast, things like crisps or cereals are easy to throw out really fast.

Anyway, I understand what’s going on and it isn’t about my performance. I gave it my best reasonable effort which was good enough to survive in oil & gas for 15 years. As I implied, I believe the team-leader is looking to blame and jettison staff to deflect some of the pressure on her, which is suspect is due to a combination of her being not particularly competent and a response to excessive pressure from the manager(s) above her. It’s all rather unpleasant, but thankfully it isn’t my first malignant workplace and I won’t be having a nervous breakdown because of it 🙂

What I can’t do is quit because Universal Credit will sanction me. Hopefully, they will let me go soon 🙂

Side note: it’s a very interesting window for me into the world of low-pay and low-skilled work, and it’s a brutal and bleak world! There are some really good people on the shop-floor, but – as one co-worker told me – there are some horrible people in management. Many people doing these gigs don’t have a lot of options and are consequently vulnerable to the caprices of those above them, especially from the dismal middle management positions. Most are just trying to keep their head down and survive another shift.

Sorry to hear that, you’re doing better than I would just by staying. I’d have left the minute I got a sniff of how it works but ik impulsive and sometimes not very objective.

Haven’t worked in that sort of place before so I dont gave any specific advice, but as you say the worst that can happen is they let go of you and you can be back on UC, for better of for worse.

I bet you could find ways to subvert…things on show all in order but random shit behind. Junior managers are mostly fine, soukds like you have happened acroas a bellend. Perhaps they can see that look in your eye and they know you can run rings round them.

Play with them!

Only my observation, when I go to supermarkets out of hours, the replenishing staf are not exactly rushing about, having chats and jokes with other staff -not that I care, but it didn’t seem like a high pressure thing to me, and why should it be?

Maybe you just have an a-hole supervisor, if you dont have the experience…

it’s not objectively measured but estimated by the team leader

That sounds like a problem right there.

I feel your pain. I worked retail for a number of years and felt so overworked and undervalued. Do you have to deal with customers too? If you don’t, that’s a huge bonus.

As I posted on your other thread…..shelf filling is hateful. I actually don’t mind the delivery driving that I do…..bit dull compared to my previous life as a musician, but it gets you out at least. If I’m back early though I get stuck shelf filling and absolutely **** hate it!

As you say though, it’s a fairly grim eye opener being in a low paid job…..and by and large the managers are utter ****. Literally some of the least intelligent people I’ve ever met! They ‘make up’ for their lack of intelligence by being able to embrace the utter bollocks that you have to deal with in a supermarket.

I did shelf stacking for about 8 months in the run up to my A Levels. The middle managers know that most of the people there are students who’ll stay for 6-8 months or similar types of people (like those forced to take the job by Universal Credit) so there is little incentive to do long term training, build relationships etc.

They also know that most of the workers have neither the knowledge nor the experience of workplace law, unions etc to report them so they stand little chance of ever being pulled up for their behaviour. As a result, many simply rule by bullying.

But then everything in those sorts of places is target driven – this number of boxes per hour, that number of breaks; you’re just treated like a robot.

What’s that? People who are given a small amount of pretend power like to lord it around? I’d never have guessed.

Sorry to hear that pal. Did you have any luck with my place?

I look at minimum wage jobs then I look at spme managers I’ve worked with and by in large i reckon most of the time the managers couldn’t manage a minimum wage job.

Sorry to hear its shit. Where are you based?

Did a spell at Toys R Us between leaving school and starting an apprenticeship in the late 80’s
I got lumbered with stacking nappies, which was a relentless task, only made bearable by the pallet truck racing course we made upstairs in the storeroom.
There was a real cow of an assistant store manager, who would make a point of going round and pushing the stacks of nappies backwards to check if you had “faced up” to make it look like the racks were full. And if they weren’t, she would make a point of telling everyone, that rather than going home on time, they would have to help fill the shelves.. I think her plan was to make people resent you for holding them up from going home. Luckily , most of them had done this task in the past and knew how hard it was to keep up with the sales. You wouldn’t believe how many nappies were purchased ( they were the cheapest around).
30 years later, I was in there getting stuff for the kids, and there she was ( although she was manager now ) still strutting round checking the stock.

Bitch

Nice middle aged bloke in one supermarket told me of one obnoxious person junior jobsworth,so one day he put a security foil strip in her shoe under the insole, she triggered the alarm when walking out, and she had a few quids worth of stock in her bag, she hadnt paid for, caught by a security guard who was new, and didnt know her as staff, she got sacked.

Another chap i knew good worker and always helpful, in a factory, booked a afternoon off, boss from hell, screamed where you going, he said ive booked the afternoon off, she said no you havent, he said i have and walked out, a few weeks alter he resigned, a week latter was told she had been sacked as a few others had resigned due to her attitude, and they lost a lot of production .

Me a few years ago, hated the job, found out about widescale fraud, and mentioned it to another staff member she grassed, and my life was hell, for a few monthe, finally snapped, told her to stuff her job, i resign, next day a recorded mail envelope saying i was sacked for gross misconduct.

At about 18 working in industry got told off for something so petty, chatting to an old wise bloke about 60 in the foundry, he said listen lad, when you leave school you think youve left all the bullies and children behind in the playground, you havent, they just get jobs in junior management or become supervisors. He was so correct.

Stay strong.

Okay. Think outside the box. This is the plan:
Drop a hint to the most intelligent out of your fellow worker (“because I trust you not to say anything”) about how you’ve been dropped into post by HQ to find out who is stealing stuff and the side issue of possible bullying. Ask a few pointed questions: Have you ever been bullied by any managers or supervision? Be ‘seen’ making a few notes in a little black notebook in your back pocket.
That should sort it out.

You’re experience of supermarket management is the same what ever one you are in. Worked in sainsburys for 9 years and the management are mostly ignorant **** that know nothing of how to motivate people. Couldn’t be more cliquey and bitchy.

how much work does the team leader do? I’m guessing this isn’t sainsburys.

OP’s experience is exactly the same I had in a short stint as a postman.

The depot big boss (decent guy) was quite keen to let me go without seeing out my notice when I told him I was about to flip and kick shit out of someone. He knew I meant his under-boss (jobsworth brainless ****) who was roundly despised.

“Going postal” really is a thing.

Interesting insight. Facing a similar situation here. Worked in a good paying industry for years and now liking for scraps and being treated like a kid.

I once worked at M&S. Fortunately all the staff I met were thoroughly nice people. But I used to have to unload fresh stock from cages and stick it on shelves upstairs in the warehouse. Nice simple job you’d think. But the bizarre way everything had been organised only made sense to the one staff member that designed the layout. Who was rather proud of the achievement. Took ages to find the right place for things, unless you happened to have worked there years and memorised it all. And of course most of it was in plain boxes rather than easier to recognise retail packaging.

And of course most of it was in plain boxes rather than easier to recognise retail packaging.

Any modern warehouse, it would all be by barcode with a hand held scanner: scan box, get instruction to take the box to location 22 b, shelf 3, etc… and thats going back 20 years from my forklift days, lol!

I’m not sure about your predicament and I sympathise, but can you tell me where the Eggs are?😀

Any modern warehouse, it would all be by barcode with a hand held scanner: scan box, get instruction to take the box to location 22 b, shelf 3, etc… and thats going back 20 years from my forklift days, lol!

You’d think so, but that’s not how M&S worked and it wasn’t that many years ago. Obviously not quite caught up with the cool kids like Amazon.

I worked in a supermarket when I was at school. The culture of bullying by the managers was mind-blowing from my experience.

Had a few years in upper management of a supermarket (I was in property), and a 20 career in retail shopfitting before that. Supermarket managers are generally absolute 🔔ends, the louder they shout the higher up the chain they go and the bigger the store they run. Middle management of the larger stores seem to take on as how you should manage people and it’s a toxic system. Managers of smaller stores and convenience were generally nice people.
Glad I’m out and running my own business now.

Most toxic place I ever worked was supermarket. Was also the most satisfying when I just walked out one night…

Sounds rubbish OP I feel your pain.

What’s that? People who are given a small amount of pretend power like to lord it around? I’d never have guessed.

I worked in a warehouse once, unpacking CDs and sticking stickers on them then packing them up again. Honestly the guy (on the same shit pay as the rest of us) who was allowed to have a Stanley knife used to think he was the big I am and lord it over everyone else constantly.

Have had both sides of the shit job paradigm, when they’re good it’s brain out top bantz with the crew and zero responsibility, at the worst you’re completely at the mercy of whichever bunghole petty Napoleon has the badge with supervisor on. Just look for something else similar elsewhere, you’ll get lucky at some point, CVS in all the quick churn agencies. Also don’t give up on the ‘proper job’ search, even if o&g has tanked there’s other process/industrial stuff out there.

Supermarket work is just soul destroying.

I grabbed a job at the local Morrison’s when I was furloughed last summer thanks to knowing the manager, was hoping for Home Delivery but ended up on the meat dept as I was the only person they recruited old enough to work with knives! I lasted 3 shifts doing that before leaving as it was so blatantly obvious it was a toxic environment in the store due to people abusing their power without knowing what they were doing. Thankfully a driver job was then available after one of the drivers had insulted a customer so moved over to that, it was either that or leave. I then got to watch the store go through so much turnover of staff due to bullying from managers and supervisors it was unreal. I had the odd day where I would do the picking after a driving shift and while the shelves were full they was nothing in the right place and all sorts of errors with price labels etc, all down to one of the night supervisors targetting the fillers to get stuff out as quickly as possible. I pointed this out to the store manager and he was shocked at how bad it was, a real nightmare for him if the in-house or local inspectorate had come round! I left soon after as it was obvious that, while there were a core of good staff there, the bully element was running the place and wasn’t an environment I could continue in. This wasn’t even one of the bad stores (I knew which ones were from the job I was furloughed from) so God knows what they’re like to work in.

There are some really good people on the shop-floor, but – as one co-worker told me – there are some horrible people in management. Many people doing these gigs don’t have a lot of options and are consequently vulnerable to the caprices of those above them, especially from the dismal middle management positions. Most are just trying to keep their head down and survive another shift.

That about sums it up. How the decent people continue working under those conditions I don’t know, I’m just glad they do!

I was lucky enough to return the attention on a crappy supermarket supervisor from post GCSE shelf stacking when he joined a company I worked at in the holidays from college and uni’ in a senior role to me as operations manager.

The boss realised that he wasn’t really my manager but just someone to do my paperwork for me and gofer to the labourers and to be a legit trailer towing driver. He couldn’t hack the pace or understand the industry and left soon after putting the Discovery and trailer on its roof. Probably had stuff in the fridge that was there longer. Got a bunch of new kit from the insurance, so not a bad result for a months wind-up, even if I did have to manage the rest of the season which wasn’t much more than I did anyway.

I worked in Sainsburys for a bit at uni, you’re literally describing my job. Facing up at the end of the day, no bother. Why is he finished and you’re only on your first aisle? Because he’s in drinks juice and I have biscuits that don’t stay in the same place due to your **** moronic standards! Also got into trouble for talking to someone when we were all blitzing an aisle, don’t think she appreciated the fact I couldn’t keep my face straight. Thing was, she wasn’t a team leader, just a barely above my level supervisor.

Costco was marginally better but the store manager was a raging thunder****.

Sorry to hear that pal. Did you have any luck with my place?

Nah, didn’t hear anything back.

Just another job application that entered a black hole.

Any modern warehouse, it would all be by barcode with a hand held scanner: scan box, get instruction to take the box to location 22 b, shelf 3, etc… and thats going back 20 years from my forklift days, lol!

Nope doesn’t work like that.

I work for a supermarket group (banking side) but at Christmas we’re all asked to work a day or two in a local store – PR-type thing. I’ve volunteerd at my local store (rural Scotland) for a few years now, but will only do shelf stacking, as otherwise I’d have to deal with actual customers. The only easy bit is that a cage will have a specific food/drink type in it, but this could be spread across a number of aisles. The cardboard boxes usually have the manufacturer written on them, except own-brand, but if you don’t know the layout in detail – each box opening and where it goes is a ‘surprise’.

Management-wise, maybe we’re lucky, but the store manager is a lovely bloke who’s been there a few years and consequently so are his management team etc. Not met a single ar5e, but then they do know I’m from HO so maybe it’s different for me.

Also, as it’s a very rural area the staff turnover will be low (I see the same people each year), are you working in a more urban area?

Nothing really to add but to say good luck and stick in. Hopefully something else will come up.

I worked in retail for a while, also done fast food. The hardest, most stressful, and yet worst paid jobs I’ve ever done.

People doing these jobs deserve way more credit (and pay) than they get.

I feel fortunate that my early/student jobs never had this problems.

A summer moving things around a warehouse was dull but colleagues were fun which made it ok. Checking A level marking was incredibly dull but for some reason I got pulled out of the main group to do special considerations – that meant I ended up in a small office of permanent staff helping them change the marks of people who’d had personal shit going on during exams that was to be taken into account. Then I did a stint as a QC chemist. Started off badly but about a week later a new manager took over. So I went from being patronised to doing loads of continuous improvement work and helping formulate. I was being treated like I had 1/2 a science GCSE, not a first class masters.

I don’t know if you can but assuming you need the money, keep your head down, do what you are supposed to and what you know is right and walk out each morning leaving it behind you.

Good luck

Feeling for the OP, I’ve faced a couple of “I need the money” jobs in years gone by, it’s not nice. Hoping you find something better soon, it’s close to ‘peak shit’ at the moment I guess.

I worked for Tesco for about 2 years in the early 90s, frankly it was a breeze, they couldn’t find enough proper grown-ups to work evenings and weekends back then, so they had to employ School Kids who basically sacked it off from 4pm to 8pm when the store closed for beer money. I can well imagine a LOT has changed since those days.

I worked for ASDA for a few months after that as a Dept Supervisor until they (justifiably) sacked me for being shit. At the time they were actually desperately trying to improve staff relations, I was told by some of the old timers it was like a Victorian workhouse before that, some of the older stores still had the dreaded managers offices out the back, they had a horrible them and us system of management, they spend all the 90s trying to improve things, I doubt that trend continued when WalMart took over.

Money is money though and greed is greed, in the 90s I think they wanted to be ‘nice’ to staff because it was profitable, not many people wanted to work evenings and weekends and the Supermarkets wanted to open later and later and especially on Sundays. Now the world has changed and more than ever people will work any time.

As for middle-managers, if I was going to offer them some defence, in retail the stress doesn’t stop as you rise through the ranks, middle-managers in Retail are worked like Dogs (my Bother is some kind of deputy manager of some kind for Morrisons) and know they’re replaceable. This current situation means there will be a lot of insecure, stressed, career minded younger people suddenly managing older, more experienced people, who might piss off when the situation improves, back to their usual type of work, or might decide to stay and be a threat to them.

I quite enjoyed working nights stacking shelves, always could see what you actually achieved at the end of a shift. I remember there were a few grumblings that I’d got put straight on the fresh food aisles as a new starter as that was apparently a high responsibility position but nothing more. Was more pleasant than working on a production line for sure.

Supermarkets wanted to open later and later and especially on Sundays. Now the world has changed and more than ever people will work any time.

I actually worked a summer for Sainsbury’s back in the late 90s and don’t remember it being high pressure although I was on check-out not shelf-stacking per se. On Sundays you got 1.5 x hourly rate, now it’s just another day.

I imagine a lot of companies now look to how Amazon warehouses operate like an ultra well-regulated Victorian mill. This is the model for disciplining the precariat.

This topic is very enlightening. People forced to lower their sights during a Pandemic are suddenly seeing what some people have to do to put food on their tables and on shelves for others to buy. Wouldn’t hurt for more people to experience life at the place where the shit ends up rolling to.
Reminds me years ago I left a factory job to become a Postman. My neighbour worked in an office in said factory. He couldn’t believe I’d lower myself? 🤔 6 months later the factory called in the receivers and he came and asked me if there were any postie jobs going 🤔🙄

I’d worked in retail before and my old job put me in constant contact with the retail world so it wasn’t particularly an eye-opener for me. I get what you’re saying though, hopefully it’ll mean people in general give store staff an easier time than before. It wasnt unusual to hear lots of retail workers have loads of stories of entitled customers bullying and abusing them over trivial matters. Sadly I doubt it’ll change long-term but you can hope.

I had a lot of jobs between 1991 and 95, bottom of the ladder manufacturing jobs, manual labour type stuff. The same can be said for the way staff were treated, not just by supervisors and lower management, but by others doing the same job. Very cliquey, toxic, places to work.

OP. My BiL did a stint as an order picker for one of the supermarkets, working horrible night shifts, 3am to 10am random days of the week, the pressure that was applied by minor supervisors nearly did for him. The turn over of staff was incredible, he was one of the long term staff after a month.

All I can say is if you want out, without walking out, is to deliberately get yourself fired. Do your job but slower than expected, just play the game, “sorry, I can’t go any faster”, etc. It will only be a matter of time before they either cave in and leave you alone or fire you.

Try something else whilst looking for a more suitable job that uses your O&G skills.

sorry to hear this. My daughter has been working for an upmarket supermarket chain in a nice town for about 6 months now and is enjoying it. She’s mainly checkouts but they all have to do a bit of time on the door and then end of the evening facing up and put-backs, and the like. She’s a bit happier with those bits now but did find it stressful as the store’s shutting up for the night and she’s playing the opposite version of supermarket sweep, legging it round trying to find the aisle for the artisan cheese straws and organic houmous.

From what she says the bosses are all OK, I think she did OK in a difficult situation early on when a load or traveller lads tried jumping the one in – one out queue and she tried to stop them (unsuccessfully, and got some abuse for it too) and the manager took her aside, with her being a bit shaken and told her she’d done well and not to ever put herself in ‘danger’ again. Her immediate supervisor is barely a couple of years older than her anyway, and just seems nice.

Some of the customers though are pricks, trying it on over queue jumping, mask wearing and the like, and then getting shitty when a 16yo stands up to them. She just has never taken shit off people, she was head girl and still rates one of her best school days as the one she requested a meeting with the Head teacher and gave her a dressing down over a poorly handled situation at a school event the day before (yes, my daughter handed the Head her arse, and she accepted it too)

I used to work in retail.
I would say just suck it up. It’s hard. It’s miserable. That’s why people don’t like to stick around if they don’t have to. If you need the money you need to speed up. Retail is all about hustle, if you’ve always worked in an office it’s a rude awakening.
When I got an office type job when I got out of retail I couldn’t believe how slow the pace was. I was completing work in half the time expected as I still had the hustle mentality.

One request – please spread the word about how difficult it is, shop workers need to get more respect than they do and none of the abuse and attacks that are so frequent.