Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market Employee Reviews
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Productive and supportive work environment
Bakery (Former Employee) – Burnaby, BC – 18 March 2019
This was a productive and supportive work environment that one can experience and enjoy from day to day schedule. The most enjoyable part of the job was that I always had the support of the team on all different parts of the job.
No Longer a Great Place to Work
Cashier (Former Employee) – Mississauga, ON – 18 March 2019
Whole Foods being a specialty grocer was a great place to work as a Cashier and engage with customers. But work quality of life has seriously gone down the toilet - literally. Now Cashiers are no longer considered Customer Service and instead lumped with Maintenance workers into a new department called Store Support, and guess what this means? Yes Cashiers are now expected to clean toilets, empty garbage bins and wash floors, and handle food in the same shift. So do not expect if you are hired as a Cashier to be treated as a Customer Service professional that the company sees as the front line person that customers engage with, you are now Store Support and not Customer Service and your job now includes Custodial work even if you did not agree to this change in your job description. Also, Health and Safety is a joke and half the staff have repetitive stress injuries due to complete ignorance of workstation and ergonomics standards in the industry. Furthermore, they ignore employee well being in scheduling by always over or under scheduling you and most of the time also being short staffed. And they often have you close at 10:30pm and open the next morning at 8am. The only redeeming quality of WFM is the coworkers. But do not expect to see them around very lomg as there is a high turnover and retention is not valued at all whatsoever.
Pros
Coworkers, Customers, Supervisors do their best despite now bad corporate culture
Cons
Be prepared to clean toilets and work full 8 hour Maintenance shifts as a cashier, Disposable employees, Short staffed
Good Student Job
Cashier/Barista (Current Employee) – Kitsilano, BC – 11 March 2019
Work day is eight and half hours long, and being a cashier can be very difficult on the back and knees. You are not allowed to move without asking, and repetitive movement injuries are a possibility. I was diagnosed with tendinitis twice and carpal tunnel.
Lower level management is kind and tries to keep the full time employees engaged, but store management and above does not care about employee comfort. Their main concern is customer satisfaction, even at the downfall of the employee.
The most enjoyable part of the job is the discount, pretty much everything else is a con. The workplace culture is quite negative, most people are extremely judgmental.
Lower level management is kind and tries to keep the full time employees engaged, but store management and above does not care about employee comfort. Their main concern is customer satisfaction, even at the downfall of the employee.
The most enjoyable part of the job is the discount, pretty much everything else is a con. The workplace culture is quite negative, most people are extremely judgmental.
Pros
Discount on groceries.
Cons
Lunch isn't paid for, Long days, very physical, hard on the back and knees.
Very fun place to work
Produce Staff Member (Current Employee) – Toronto, ON – 4 March 2019
The staff is very nice and it always feels good when the staff are always willing to help coworkers and customers. The environment is very welcoming because everybody is positive
Productive and fun place to work
Cashier (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – 27 February 2019
Rewarding working place in terms of cultural diversity.
The most enjoyable part of the job was to learn about healthy eating habits.
Lots of career advancement opportunities.
The most enjoyable part of the job was to learn about healthy eating habits.
Lots of career advancement opportunities.
Excellent Team
Culinary Team Member/Retail/Pastry Chef (Former Employee) – Unionville, ON – 12 February 2019
Whole Foods Market Unionville had a great team. Working there was made fun and worth going for because of the co-workers. The pay was fair. Overall god workplace.
Productive with good benefits after 3 months
Bread Production (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 12 February 2019
4am to 12pm shifts went by easiest and quickest .
benefits were extremely good.
hours were reasonable.
staff was okay to work.
some management were rude, others pleasant.
benefits were extremely good.
hours were reasonable.
staff was okay to work.
some management were rude, others pleasant.
By-The-Book SOPs
Buyer (Former Employee) – Canada – 9 February 2019
Team members at whole foods are very positive and energetic.
Management are very strict and are willing to terminate employees if they do not follow operating procedures.
Management are very strict and are willing to terminate employees if they do not follow operating procedures.
Cons
strict guidelines, indispensable employees not guaranteed to not be working on STAT holidays.
Downhill Ride
Whole Body Team Member (Former Employee) – Oakville, ON – 4 February 2019
Do you enjoy working late hours and evenings? Missing fun times with your family and friends? Being bullied by upper management? Dedicating your life to putting products on shelves so the company can make as money as possible while you struggle to survive with your minimum wage? Then working at Whole Foods Market is for you!
Once upon a time, Whole Foods Market (WFM) was a mystical place that took care of their employees, offered them amazing benefits and set them up for success. Now, WFM is owned by Amazon. Elaborating more on Amazon would be a waste of my time, do your own research about this company and their plan to take over the world. Unreal expectations, adding more duties and responsibilities than what you are paid for and management breathing down your neck about the store being "perfect" according to their program Order To Shelf (OTS). In theory this program makes sense, for a robot but for humans the expectations are mostly unachievable unless you want to dedicate your life to WFM.
This was once a great company to work for. Amazon has ruined the culture and turned WFM into the Walmart of health food stores. Do yourself a favour and shop at the locally owned, small business health food stores and engage with people that care about their jobs and how they can help you (Goodness Me, Organic Garage and Nature's Emporium). Rather than the ones that are concerned about putting as much product on shelves as possible.
Once upon a time, Whole Foods Market (WFM) was a mystical place that took care of their employees, offered them amazing benefits and set them up for success. Now, WFM is owned by Amazon. Elaborating more on Amazon would be a waste of my time, do your own research about this company and their plan to take over the world. Unreal expectations, adding more duties and responsibilities than what you are paid for and management breathing down your neck about the store being "perfect" according to their program Order To Shelf (OTS). In theory this program makes sense, for a robot but for humans the expectations are mostly unachievable unless you want to dedicate your life to WFM.
This was once a great company to work for. Amazon has ruined the culture and turned WFM into the Walmart of health food stores. Do yourself a favour and shop at the locally owned, small business health food stores and engage with people that care about their jobs and how they can help you (Goodness Me, Organic Garage and Nature's Emporium). Rather than the ones that are concerned about putting as much product on shelves as possible.
Busy job with challenges.
Perishable Buyer (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 29 January 2019
Casual and busy, not boring with lots of challenges. job culture is strong and a good balance with life. there is always someone to cover your shifts and people is always nice.
Pros
Always busy
Cons
Still needs to improve payment
Amazing for full-time students
Courtesy Clerk (Current Employee) – Toronto, ON – 23 January 2019
The work environment is very neat and clean. People are friendly and willing to help out if help is needed. I would definitely recommended this for students. There are days when the work isn't so stressful.
Pros
Flexile Hours, Friendly Management, Amazing co-workers
Cons
Labor, lots of customer service, heavy lifting, lots of logs.
It is your co-workers who make the job
Preparation Cook (Former Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 17 January 2019
The team members is what makes work fun and bearable, like every work place it does have its clicks. Some times upper management doesn't listen to the concerns of the people who actually work on the floor. They have a good benefit package and you have opportunity to grow if you push yourself and give up free time.
Pros
Free high quality tshits, 20% discount
Cons
You have to book time off well in advance, black out periods
It was a fun place to work!
SPECIALTY BUYER (Former Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 10 January 2019
Lots of young people, good culture, great discount. I learned a lot about food and they really empowered us to interact with customers, to try new ideas and to make the job ours.
Engaging and busy place to work
Specialty team member (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 9 January 2019
A very busy environment, always something to do. Management are very understanding and flexible which makes it easy to communicate with them. Hardest part of the job is completing all the tasks in a timely manner. The most enjoyable part of the job is the interactions with the customers.
Pros
good pay
Cons
lots to remember
Busy workplace
Cashier Team Member (Former Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 3 January 2019
- Late and erratic working hours
- Fun workplace but demanding job
- Getting to met new faces and interact with customers is one of the most enjoyable part of the job
- Hardest part of the job is having to lift heavy furnitures
- Fun workplace but demanding job
- Getting to met new faces and interact with customers is one of the most enjoyable part of the job
- Hardest part of the job is having to lift heavy furnitures
Pros
Competitive salary
Cons
Short breaks
Fun, but dependent on management
CASHIER & CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (Former Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 2 January 2019
Overall, Whole Foods is a good place to make a few friends, and get a little money while in school or otherwise. It was a very fun environment and management was understanding of students' circumstances. However, that culture is dependent on the managers. I have heard that management has turned over (whole foods has a high turnover rate) and the culture is much different now. I may have just gotten extremely lucky
Good work atmosphere
Health and Nutrition Specialist (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 19 December 2018
Enjoyed working at Whole foods, anyone who has a passion for natural Foods and health products would enjoy this job. Exposed to all sorts of food, and natural health and beauty products at a discounted rate!
Stressful environment with high expectations
Produce reciever (Former Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 17 December 2018
My time at WFM was a lot of stress mixed with making great new friends and connections. My store manager had very high expectations and (in my opinion) a very poor management style which led to a very low morale among employees.
My direct manager was fantastic, however labor budgets were consistently cut short and the the expectation to stay and work extra hours was always there. WFM pays an amazing time and a half for working any overtime hours (anything over 44 per week I believe) but department managers would be severely criticized for allowing anyone to exceed normal working hours.
My direct manager was fantastic, however labor budgets were consistently cut short and the the expectation to stay and work extra hours was always there. WFM pays an amazing time and a half for working any overtime hours (anything over 44 per week I believe) but department managers would be severely criticized for allowing anyone to exceed normal working hours.
Pros
great benifits
Cons
long hours and high stress
work load
Dishwasher (Former Employee) – Mississauga, ON – 11 December 2018
the workload was extremely high, the morning opener for dishwasher duty was not doing his job and was not told to finish his job. Afternoon shifts would be absolutely terrible because the workload of morning shift would have to be done by afternoon shifts at the time.
Pros
none
Cons
terrible treatment to new employees
They are poorly managed, under staffed and constantly hiring for a reason
Cook (Former Employee) – Burnaby, BC – 7 December 2018
Back of the house at Whole Foods in Burnaby is a horrible place to work. They do not have on hand the appropriate supplies necessary to carry out your duties on time. And no running around the store for small sizes of these supplies is not feasible. There is a very unsafe steamer that multiple people have been seriously scalded using. I am talking 2nd and 3rd degree burns. You will notice they are always hiring because they treat their staff as disposible often having them work a night shift followed by an early morning shift for example.
Quite the facade. Stsy away if you value your health.
Quite the facade. Stsy away if you value your health.
Pros
Coworkers were nice
Cons
Poor pay and management, huge staff turnover, not enough workers