Sparse employees in shops

[Newbian]

Do you live in the ghetto or something or hit them at weird hours?

Just went to pizza hut the other day for some take-out and had one person at the main cash register although no one was there and another was at the 2nd register for take-out and that's normal when I hit it up.

A third came out from the back asking that one if he needed any help as there were a entire two people waiting to pick up their pizzas and I am sure the restaurant part had a person or two taking car of the tables.

Our nearest walmart usually has a ton of normal lanes open yet very few self checkouts sadly and people hardly use them here but then again it always seems very busy.

 

[Mayne]

never had a problem at Best Buy or Home Depot.

 

[Scarpozzi]

For me, the worst was always Home Depot. I would walk in the door and see 5 or 6 employees...after walking through the store and having trouble finding what I'm needing, or needing assistance ordering something, I would look around and not be able to find anyone. It was just like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ65hou2-78

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Corporate boardrooms hate workers. They eat into profits and as a result their bonuses. My company won't spend a dollar to make ten.

 

[bradley]

Retailers have always tried to run with minimum staff but WalMart set the new standard in this and there profit soared so everyone else is forced to copy that model or go out of business.

This is what it's like on the down escalator...

Brian

Walmart is also creating a new trend by selling food that resembles 'food' in name only.

Why don't ice cream sandwiches melt anymore?
http://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/why-dont-ice-cream-sandwiches-melt-anymore

 

[DrDoug]

My wife works for a big box store chain that was bought up by Kroger. It used to be a great place to work with great benefits and pay but then it was Krogerfied and now it sucks ass. We live in a rural area and there are not many options out there for jobs so she and others like her are pretty much stuck there. The store coverage is so fucking poor because they have cut their employees to the bone and are training every person in the store to be a cashier while cutting the number of regular cashiers and denying their replacements the hourly differential that a regular cashier would get. On top of that they are ragged on about not getting their regular jobs done since some MBA has calculated that they would would be able to do both if only they would work as hard as the MBAs have calculated they can. She just found out that her week of vacation requested was denied again because she is the only person in her department and they need her there to cover it. She ended up getting TWO FUCKING DAYS OFF to relax on vacation and I am pissed, as is she. She can't take more than two days off because they refuse to allocate more than one person to her department. The department is left without coverage on her days off with customers having to request assistance and wait for someone to show up, if anyone even shows up.

They are screwing their employees on the cashier hourly pay differential, screwing them on vacation days they can take and screwing them on their pay. You want to know why service sucks at places like this? Because the company doesn't give a shit about their employees and the employees hate the fucking company they work for. Combine that with customers who get pissed at them because the store is short handed and you have a recipe for a disaster where everyone is pissed except for the people at the top who are raking in the dough. Of course, any problems are the fault of the employee so they best not make waves about the problems.

Periodically the main office assholes decide to tour the store and the employees have to spend a couple of days getting everything ready for The Grand Illusion, as they call it. Upper management then comes strolling in, looks around, delivers their assessment (everyone can do better!) and then go strolling off into the sunset. Then everything goes back into the mess it was before the tour.

Sadly, she would be out of there if it wasn't the best game in town. It's a good thing I make good money since her income is pretty much spending money for us.

 

[bradly1101]

It takes thinking like a shareholder.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2353827

 

[Red Squirrel]

Capitalism. Companies will run everything on the least resources as possible to maximize profits. The goal is not to make service 100% good, it's to make it good enough that their profits don't suffer.

Take Walmart for example, even though they have like 40 cash registers they only have 2 open. People complain, but not enough to stop shopping there.

Sadly it's only going to get worse due to continued use of outsourcing, and for simple repetitious jobs like cashier, that can be replaced with a machine.

I give it less than 10 years before they come up with an unmanned fast food joint. You place your order either via an app on your phone or on an on site keypad. Food is then delivered through a slot. Basically a giant vending machine. There would be redundancy built in so when something breaks or needs maintenance some guy from down south comes and fixes it then leaves. Lot of other things like that could also be fully automated. It wont stop there, these places will need engineers right? Wrong. They can outsource that too.

All the jobs are going south, literally.

 

[Carson Dyle]

American consumers have spoken loud and clear about what they want first and foremost: The lowest possible price on EVERYTHING. You can't sell pizzas for $8.99 or giant jars of pickles for $2.99 if you're paying a lot of employees to hold customers' hands. Like they say: Fast, cheap, or good - Pick two.

I resisted using the self-checkout lanes for years. Now, I realize that it will be faster and less painful in just about every store I shop. I almost never have to stand in line now. I don't have chit-chat with someone I don't know. And I don't have to watch someone with an IQ of 40 figure out how to put a dozen eggs and a bag of apples in the same bag. I don't use a checkout lane now unless I have a cart full of groceries.

 

[Tsavo]

Yeah, That Wally World Great Value line are easily the worst products I've ever seen. Everything is uniformly shockingly bad.

I love the nitwits that run these companies. Years ago, Best Buy had salesmen that were making $60k+ a year on fixed commission %. The CEO said they were making too much, and got rid of them. HELLO? Fixed commission % means that the more they make, the more you make! Store sales and profit plummeted.

Home Depot got rid of their knowledgeable sales staff, and their profit took a dump, too.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Do you live in the ghetto or something or hit them at weird hours?

Just went to pizza hut the other day for some take-out and had one person at the main cash register although no one was there and another was at the 2nd register for take-out and that's normal when I hit it up.

A third came out from the back asking that one if he needed any help as there were a entire two people waiting to pick up their pizzas and I am sure the restaurant part had a person or two taking car of the tables.

Our nearest walmart usually has a ton of normal lanes open yet very few self checkouts sadly and people hardly use them here but then again it always seems very busy.

Yeah, I think you may be onto something with the ghetto comment. We have three Super Walmarts within a five mile radius of where I live. All of them are spotless. All of them have employees in every aisle.

I was looking for something that the nearby Walmart didn't have in stock, but their website showed that the Walmart about four miles away had it. I went in at about 11PM and couldn't find it, so I asked an employee stocking in the health and beauty department. She didn't know, but together we walked up and down a couple of aisles, and she found someone else and asked her. That employee knew immediately where it was. That's the kind of service that you may have gotten in 1964 rather than 2014. Nothing special, but remarkable, just the same.

 

[irishScott]

For me it's grocery stores. When was the last time you saw more than half of the manned checkout lines open at frocery stores? I rarely see more than 3 or 4, maybe 5 or 6 (out of 10/12) during holidays. It's ridiculous.

 

[Engineer]

Capitalism. Companies will run everything on the least resources as possible to maximize profits. The goal is not to make service 100% good, it's to make it good enough that their profits don't suffer.

Take Walmart for example, even though they have like 40 cash registers they only have 2 open. People complain, but not enough to stop shopping there.

Sadly it's only going to get worse due to continued use of outsourcing, and for simple repetitious jobs like cashier, that can be replaced with a machine.

I give it less than 10 years before they come up with an unmanned fast food joint. You place your order either via an app on your phone or on an on site keypad. Food is then delivered through a slot. Basically a giant vending machine. There would be redundancy built in so when something breaks or needs maintenance some guy from down south comes and fixes it then leaves. Lot of other things like that could also be fully automated. It wont stop there, these places will need engineers right? Wrong. They can outsource that too.

All the jobs are going south, literally.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/17/rise-of-the-machines-economist_n_4616931.html

We've got Skynet by the balls now, eh?.....er.....wait....

 

[aaksheytalwar]

There are two ways to solve this crisis.

1. Remove the minimum wage rate. If people need to work at $1/hr then so be it. It will automatically drive down the asking price of goods and make America competent with the global economy. Those who are able to would still charge 100s/1000s per hour!

And/Or

2. Just increase the prices across the board. For everything that is for internal use. Anything to be sold in USA should have a massive mark up to pay for employees etc. Everything will readjust accordingly.

If both the above are done, there won't be a legal minimum but the economy would fend for itself.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Walmart is also creating a new trend by selling food that resembles 'food' in name only.

Why don't ice cream sandwiches melt anymore?
http://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/why-dont-ice-cream-sandwiches-melt-anymore

lol, did you even read that article? I love Walmart threads, you get some of the biggest knee-jerkers around in them. My Walmart is awesome, btw. Yeah, not too many cashiers available, they're busy restocking since I CAN CHECK OUT MY OWN ITEMS YOU LAZY BASTARDS, thank you.

 

[Mixolydian]

What pisses me off is when the stores are crowded on the weekends (y'know, cause most people work M-F and only do their shopping on weekends) and yet there are only 2 checkout lines open and literally 20 customers in line at each checkout.

like seriously WTF. I want to go into rage mode at that point.

 

[Jeff7]

Do you live in the ghetto or something or hit them at weird hours?

Just went to pizza hut the other day for some take-out and had one person at the main cash register although no one was there and another was at the 2nd register for take-out and that's normal when I hit it up.

A third came out from the back asking that one if he needed any help as there were a entire two people waiting to pick up their pizzas and I am sure the restaurant part had a person or two taking car of the tables.

Our nearest walmart usually has a ton of normal lanes open yet very few self checkouts sadly and people hardly use them here but then again it always seems very busy.

I don't remember ever being to a Walmart that had a lot of checkout lanes open. They've all got 20-30 lanes, but maybe 1/4 of them are open.
Kmart is even worse. It's always nice to go in and notice that they have only one checkout lane open, and 9 people in line there - then I know that it's time to shop elsewhere.

There are two ways to solve this crisis.

1. Remove the minimum wage rate. If people need to work at $1/hr then so be it. It will automatically drive down the asking price of goods and make America competent with the global economy. Those who are able to would still charge 100s/1000s per hour!

And/Or

2. Just increase the prices across the board. For everything that is for internal use. Anything to be sold in USA should have a massive mark up to pay for employees etc. Everything will readjust accordingly.

If both the above are done, there won't be a legal minimum but the economy would fend for itself.

Serious post?

Anyway...
The majority of the world lives in poverty. Yeah, I want some of that!


And it would automatically drive down prices?

"We can cut labor prices by 60% with this new legislation. We'll be able to post an impressive earnings report this quarter, which should do some amazing things to our stock price. This will also permit exceptional bonus payouts this year."
Then begin discussions on how to put less product into each package, but ensure that the package looks like it hasn't changed, or ensure that every package pushes right up to the legal maximum ratio of water to product.

Prices don't change, profit margins go up, the rich get richer.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/17/rise-of-the-machines-economist_n_4616931.html

We've got Skynet by the balls now, eh?.....er.....wait....

It's an interesting situation.
We'll still end up with the same productivity, so the same amount of "stuff" getting done will be the same as it was before we had to employ those people. Now it's a matter of figuring out how to ensure that loads of people don't just wallow in poverty. (Or take another common approach: "Fuck 'em, not my problem. The worse-off they are, the sooner they'll die, so the problem will solve itself.")
We do adapt to change, as we've already accommodated the introduction of a lot of automation, but this is happening pretty quickly.

 

[Eug]

For me it's grocery stores. When was the last time you saw more than half of the manned checkout lines open at frocery stores? I rarely see more than 3 or 4, maybe 5 or 6 (out of 10/12) during holidays. It's ridiculous.

We have self check-out aisles at grocery stores. They're great, esp. if you have less than 20 items.

 

[Engineer]

We have self check-out aisles at grocery stores. They're great, esp. if you have less than 20 items.

The grocery and department stores figured out a way to get the customer to work for them. Checking yourself out and bagging your own goods. Sometimes, at the advantage of you gaining time but I've seen people standing at the self checkout in lines waiting while the regular registers are open with nobody in the lanes. Throw in the old 'rent a cart' technique and now you have a way to get the customers to bring the cart back for the deposit. Now, they don't have to pay someone to go around and collect carts. And just think of the money you're saving by the stores giving you a discount for doing all of this work for them.......er......it is a good sized discount, no? What do you mean there is no discount? Well shit.

Next task....get the customers to stock the shelves.

 

[Mixolydian]

A lot of stores around here are actually removing self-checkout lanes. Theft has skyrocketed since they were put in, apparently.

 

[jpiniero]

Why even have a grocery store? Just have the Amazon drones bring it right to your doorstep.

 

[Engineer]

A lot of stores around here are actually removing self-checkout lanes. Theft has skyrocketed since they were put in, apparently.

I suspect that economic conditions, job losses and stagnant wages coupled with fast rising prices account for more of that than do self checkout lanes.

 

[Jeff7]

The grocery and department stores figured out a way to get the customer to work for them. Checking yourself out and bagging your own goods.

Self-service stores were also a new thing at one point in time, rather than having an employee retrieve the item for you. Now they expect customers to walk all over the place, getting the things they want for themselves.

Sometimes, at the advantage of you gaining time but I've seen people standing at the self checkout in lines waiting while the regular registers are open with nobody in the lanes. Throw in the old 'rent a cart' technique and now you have a way to get the customers to bring the cart back for the deposit. Now, they don't have to pay someone to go around and collect carts. And just think of the money you're saving by the stores giving you a discount for doing all of this work for them.......er......it is a good sized discount, no? What do you mean there is no discount? Well shit.

Next task....get the customers to stock the shelves.

I prefer the self-checkouts where there's also someone there bagging the groceries.
Gives me something to do other than stand there idle and watch someone else scanning things for me, or be tempted to buy some overpriced impulse items lining the checkout lane. And I don't have to bother with small talk with a disinterested person who's only trying to be chatty because their manager is within earshot.
I do wish the self checkout scanners were faster though. I need to wait for the things to finish verifying the weight of the scanned item...then the laser kicks back on.....then it's finally ready to scan another item.



Carts: I'd just prefer to have some manner of automated Tazer turrets for people who don't at least put the carts back into the corrals in the parking lot. Some people are just that goddamn lazy that they can't even walk 50 feet to put the cart into one of them. (What does amuse me is that there are some people who have parked very close to the store, and will then walk farther to put the cart into a parking lot corral, rather than take it the shorter distance into the store's entrance. But, I'm hardcore efficient, bro. That's why I have >38k posts here.)

 

[Mixolydian]

I suspect that economic conditions, job losses and stagnant wages coupled with fast rising prices account for more of that than do self checkout lanes.

Self-checkout lanes make it easier to steal. At least that's what their reasoning is.

 

[Fayd]

Walmart is also creating a new trend by selling food that resembles 'food' in name only.

Why don't ice cream sandwiches melt anymore?
http://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/why-dont-ice-cream-sandwiches-melt-anymore

if you bothered to read your link, it says there's nothing wrong with walmart's ice cream bar, and even puts forward that they're lower in fat and potentially healthier than the competition.

the slower melting is caused by the inclusion of various gums.