order picker

meat cutter

pharmacien

cashier

boucher

Sobeys

Working at this store has been, without question, the worst employment experience I’ve ever had. When the store became franchised, many employees were hopeful that things would improve. Unfortunately, in my experience, the exact opposite happened. Morale declined, the work environment became even more toxic, and the problems with management only became worse.
The biggest issue at this store isn’t the customers—it’s the management. In my experience, too many people in leadership roles lack the communication skills, professionalism, empathy, and leadership abilities needed to manage a team effectively. Decisions made by management have had a noticeable negative impact on staff morale, and it often feels like employees are expected to accept those decisions without question.
If you’re a quiet, hardworking employee who consistently shows up, covers shifts, stays past your availability, and does everything asked of you, don’t expect your dedication to be recognized. I’ve covered shifts for coworkers, stayed late, worked through busy holidays, and always tried to help whenever I could. Despite that, I was never made to feel genuinely appreciated. Instead, I was met with criticism, unrealistic expectations, and disciplinary meetings over things that should have been handled with common sense and compassion. No matter how hard you work, it never seems to be enough. You simply cannot win.
If you work through the busiest holiday season, serving thousands of customers, and eventually get sick, don’t expect much understanding. Calling in sick can quickly become an issue, and if it happens on a Friday or Saturday—the days many employees are regularly scheduled—you may feel as though your honesty is questioned rather than trusted.
As a student, I also found there was very little flexibility or understanding when it came to balancing work with school, exams, and academic commitments. Instead of feeling supported, I often felt like I was being punished for trying to manage both responsibilities.
The complete lack of compassion shown after the sudden death of a close family member was the moment I realized how little employees truly mattered. During one of the hardest weeks of my life, I felt like an inconvenience rather than a valued employee. That experience permanently changed how I viewed this workplace.
The double standards throughout the store are impossible to ignore. Employees are micromanaged for briefly speaking to coworkers or asking simple work-related questions, creating an environment that feels unnecessarily restrictive. Meanwhile, management often spends significant amounts of time talking amongst themselves while expecting employees to remain constantly productive. During even a small rush, certain managers would briefly step in, begin directing staff, and then disappear again, giving the impression of helping without meaningfully sharing the workload.
The atmosphere is built on criticism rather than encouragement. Respect is expected from employees but isn’t always returned. Appreciation is rare, communication is poor, and morale is incredibly low. The store frequently promotes itself as being “one big family,” but my experience couldn’t have been further from that. A family supports one another, values hard work, communicates respectfully, and shows compassion when life becomes difficult. I experienced the opposite.
I genuinely cannot recommend working at this location. The job itself and the customers were never the biggest problem—the workplace culture and the way employees are treated by management were. I sincerely hope meaningful changes are made because the hardworking employees at this store deserve far better than what they’ve been given.

Typical union workers... That doesn't care about quality work. Everything is left to improvisation. Which is always shocking in a automated center that 95% of the work is already predetermined. I don't think they will be around for an other 10 years unless something is changed.The entire culture or mentality has to change. Business has slowed down and not picking up. They tend to say otherwise with their numbers which is not totally accurate but being there you just know and feel something isn't right. You will never have advancement. It will take 25 years of service to even pray to gain anything remotely reasonable. Meaning good insurance , salary , schedule, you name it until then you are #300 waiting in line. Someone can jump you over also. There's no guarantee that you will be next in line. Someone with less experience can jump ahead of you out of hypocrisy. Which always caused tension. Some folks would get new roles in the company and others will complain that they waited for the same opportunity for 5 years. They would still give it to the guy with 1 year of experience instead. Just because they didn't like the guy. 

The warehouse itself had lots of potential let's face it is  state of the art you are in awe for your  first 3 hours there really.Then the big picture settles in in a  you slowly see that everything is  ruined by old timers holding the youth back & holding to their glory days and benefits. Speaking of the union. It is solely built  around  old working partners that are friends with the big chief. The big head chiefs there felt like they are acting in a certain way cause they never made it big and try to be hot shots there. You never feel part of the team you are always an outsider a number. They will lie to your face daily and this to me is a no no . Everyday you see people with 20+ years of experience come to work with a hunch back and they look soulless completely drained. The younger folks tend to be more energetic but after seeing them for 2 years they have the same soulless mentality and look. 

Overall could be great instead it's mediocre at most. You will see a lot of posting from them looking for people. Ask yourself this question. Why is a union job like this is always looking to hire?. They cannot and will not keep their people. Only the weakest stay there and accept their faith saying to themselves well if i stay maybe it will change. I wasn't one of them and they knew from day 1. I left earlier last year. Before i left i was  always depressed when working there and unappreciated. On the verge of a burnout or a mental breakdown or worse. I kid you not. Sounds silly? but trust me it got serious. You feel spineless and useless being there.They have a special way to remind you how special you are each and everyday. They keep you on the edge all the time.

Best move i made with my Sobeys carreer was give 2 weeks notice and move on. I even try not to not shop there for groceries as well but that's me. I've had enough. The way i have been treated was not something i can recommend but if you are a student go ahead they will pay for your scholarship. You can use them for that which is good. DO IT !!! Well worth it afterward you can go and work in a real job. So students please by all means go there get the free scholarship. Give the bare minimum to them and then move on with life. Someone with a real career goal with them maybe visit first and just try it out for a month. You will come and like my comment afterward. You are welcome.

I started working part-time in the bakery shortly after I began my first semester at college. After baking for Tim Hortons for nearly three years prior to this job, it seemed like a vacation getaway in comparison. 30 minutes for lunch? Not having to strategically plan out bathroom breaks? It was like a dream come true.

Alas, all shops have their problems and Sobeys is no exception. I'm very fortunate to be a quick learner, and someone who is confident in my decisions. My training was very brief and unfortunately I had to make a lot of educated guesses as to how things should be done when I was working by myself. After being there for over a year, I'm 100% comfortable with any task I should happen to carry out, but the first couple of months were interesting. I see this trend continue as I train new employees, and have taken it upon myself to type up instructions or reminders to make the process of closing easier for the poor 16 year-olds who have only had 3 training shifts (closers work alone.)


Selling specialty items is my favourite part of this job, especially helping customers order their ideal cakes and desserts based on the occasion. It allows me to talk to the customer, offering them ideas and explaining what we're able to do for them in terms of custom desserts; it's quite fun, really. I've asked to be trained on actual cake decorating many times, but for now I just write on birthday cakes when requested. 

The job as a whole is physically demanding but nothing I can't handle. I feel accomplished at the end of the day, knowing I've put in the effort and I've left the department in better shape than I found it. My biggest criticism would be that the bakery is the only department in our store that leaves a single person to close shop every night. If it's busy and customers are approaching me often, then there's simply no chance of leaving when I'm scheduled to. I often cannot take my breaks and stay 30 minutes - 1 hour late in an attempt to get everything done. 

Tensions are high in the bakery due to the shortage of hours....Sobeys likes to hire many people and give them 12 hrs/week instead of a couple full-time employees. This makes consistency nearly impossible and honestly, it's frustrating that the company is willing to do this instead of just giving their long-time workers enough hours to earn a living because they're too cheap to give us benefits. I need another part-time job (or completely different full-time job) just to pay the rent. 

Overall it's not a bad job at all. My co-workers are really positive and friendly, and I feel safe within my workplace.

I worked as a part-time cashier in Sobeys for a year and a half. I was never given any employee discounts or benefits of any kind, never given even the slightest opportunity for advancement, and outlasted 4 front end managers. I was never given a proper schedule for breaks, we were always short staffed, I started to work full time hours while attending school full time, and I was only 16 at this point. Not only did the Sobeys store I worked for disobey so many labour laws, but it seems they refused to keep the store to sanitation standards (cockroaches everywhere, not to mention the state of the meat section).

The store I worked for has one of the highest turnover rates in all of Ontario, maybe even Canada. They would call me to work every day and punish me if I refused to come in by cutting my pre-scheduled shifts, they even called me to come in and work during my vacation with my family, outside of North America. Even after taking a vacation, my weekly hours were cut from a healthy 20-25 to a measly 5, maybe 8. This is when I sought out a new job.

The store manager mistreated the staff by yelling vulgar remarks at them and customers would complain to me or my superior that we were being exploited as employees. The front end managers were never properly trained and never took full responsibility, usually blaming the part timers for mistakes they made, or even stealing from the store. If a customer were to approach one of my superiors with a complaint that is completely irrelevant to how I serviced them as a cashier, I would be, simply put, punished for having a customer who came through my line-up come to them with a problem (even if it was about the fact that we had rotting produce out to sell).

Going in to work for this store was the ultimate hell. I'm sorry, but working for 8 hours straight and then having your break time cut short, or being harassed constantly by your employer to come in to take a shift that some other careless employee didn't show up for, and then threatened when you refuse to do so because you are at school (seriously they would call me every day no matter what time), all this is just plain unacceptable and inhumane.

The only thing I learned from this job was how to keep a fake smile plastered on my face while being screamed at by customers, and that retail/food is the worst place to work and gain experience.

I've been a team member for Sobeys Rsc for almost 5 years now. I started as a temp and got hired as a part time then became full time. The job was easy enough and there's a lot of overtime hours for the graveyard shift order selectors. I'm in a different department now and it's a steady 40 hour week job. 

Work life balance wise is not great since most the employees under 10 years will work night shift. 

Relationship between Management can be a hit or miss. They will treat you right if you're willing to kiss their behind and be their work dog. (Voluntold) Management appears to train their favorite "dogs" first although the warehouse is unionize and has a seniority list. The management wont fire or demote employees that constantly hit the racking, or won't meet the ELS.

I do not care what other people says about Sobeys Rsc. Over the years ,it looks like that it became the retirement home of elderly people. I haven't seen the company hire young people. The new team members lack training, they keep bumping into things, they don't know where they are going and they put their pallets in the wrong staging lane. 

Job culture is poor the warehouse is toxic. The warehouse is full of tell tales and backstabs. The supervisors have their favorites. The warehouse has a high rate of employee turnover. Lots of employees are on modified duties for a long period of time (Trust me when I say a long period of time) Senior employees hoard all the overtime even though there's less work. The relationship between the morning shift and night shift is poor. Management don't care about the engineered labor standards so no matter how hard your work it's fruitless and most likely won't be recognized. (it's a thankless job) Employee of the month is a popularity contest. 
Union representatives don't care about helping other team members. They are at the very corner of the warehouse and most likely ran for their personal gains. Also, they appear to be on their phone constantly.
Management overlook some department's productivity. Some team member work less, but seems to have more hours than others. Others have more time walking to the washroom, browsing through their phones, and talk about hockey.

It will most likely take a new employee 6 years or more to gain top hourly rate which is a measly 27bucks.

Overall, the job is good but, the culture is unpleasant. It really depends how long a person can endure.

I have worked for Sobeys for 22 yrs putting in countless hours because I loved what I did, and when Safeway was purchased the writing was on the wall. In the last 5 yrs all Sobeys top personal have been let go and replaced with Safeway personal, this all started when a Vice President was appointed with a Safeway background not knowing the Sobeys culture and proceeded to, one by one bring their so called crew over removing Sobeys personal from high level, D.O's down to store management and this falls squarely on Sobeys for allowing this to happen.  A Company that at one time believed In their people has turned  a company that actually cared to now utter chaos . I have served many roles over the years and have been extremely happy then I was influenced by Safeway personal, let's not forget all Sobeys people are gone unless u have the last name Sobey, to jump from the Sobeys banner to the Safeway banner with promises of the short training  required to having store of your own, promises Promises plus a wage cut.... Now who does that ??? Safeway people filling employees with pipe dreams.
I brought with me my Sobeys culture and attitude, look after your people and they will I turn look after your business, be kind to one another yet hold people accountable, guide them, coach them and do what ever it takes to take an employee from where they are to where they want to be, and never let go until you can sleep at night knowing you have done everything you can to help those employees succeed . This is not the Safeway culture and I learned very quickly they shuffle people like cattle through a pen, just move people to try and fix a problem but yet there is no success. Lack of consistency and bringing disruption to employees with last minute moves to put out a fire or to fix a problem. Sobeys used to bring that sparkle to my eye and the unwavering dedication.....no more I have left due to the fact that they have let people take over that care more about the bottom line than caring about their people that will ultimatley get that bottom line and the promises that are made only to be broken time after time.
Your only a strong as your team is......this company is no longer my pride and joy  but rather my regret...I have missed out on so many events with family and friends because I thought the company cared. At one time they did but not anymore.....welcome to Safeway who ultimatley and obviously took over Sobeys

Working with Sobeys was a great experience for me. When I tell my friends, family, (and even customers), what I do typically, they are in disbelief that my job is so easy, fun, and worthwhile. This is due to the fact all I do in my shifts are cut vegetables, fruits, and package trays for picnics. When I go into work, I say hello to my co-workers, talk to my manager about if there is anything new going on (specials) and see what I should help with if I finish early. After talking to my employer, I go into my area, pick the fruits I need, and get chopping. From doing this cycle, I have learned patience, consistency, and enhanced my customer service skills. My management is amazing, and they really helped me to understand what goes on with Retail, and assisted me in my education. The co-workers in my department have become some of my closest friends. We get our work done early because of how fun we keep the environment. We invite customers to play little games with us, and help them find their items in a special way each time. For example, a lady was looking for a type of lettuce that was no longer available at our store, but I helped her in picking out 3 different types of lettuces, for making a Garden salad, by listing things she enjoys eating in a salad. This would be the hardest part of the job because I don't always understand a customer, or have a certain item available for a tray. Sometimes, I don't always have any of the items necessary for an order, so I take the responsibility in contacting the customer and walking them through the problem. Sometimes they are understanding and work with us to help solve the problem - Some solutions include asking them to pick up after we get the shipment, or giving them an item that is of the same or more value - other times, the customer is not so understanding so we invite them into the store to view what we have available and work from there. My most enjoyable part of the job is having the opportunity to participate in work-related activities with my co-workers and managers. This is because it helps me be more motivated to go into work and meet new people. I cannot recall a day when I have had a bad day at work, and not had any fun. We all joke around, laugh at each other, and make song parodies. My job at sobeys is a whole lot of fun, and I look forward to whats next in store for me with my future jobs and career.

Sobeys is what I would consider to be a higher end retail job. 

You do have a good amount of responsibility in your role, however this is severely limited by a management style that pushes you to your limit while underpaying you. This seems to be the trend in most retail companies, so will give Sobeys it's due for not being the worst out there. 

You are either lucky enough to be around co-workers who are nice, or unlucky enough to be with those who aren't. 
However, my biggest gripe would be the improper work schedules. 

You are almost never guaranteed hours according to your part time status, and even full time workers sometimes have cuts to their work schedules. 
A part timer must work half the amount of a full timer or have the freedom to specify exact days and times, otherwise just don't hire them! 
In this economy people need to have at-least two jobs in order to sustain themselves, when operating on a minimum wage salary. 

Sobeys is not free of this retail chain trend where they need you to have almost full time availability yet they will not give you sufficient work hours, and should you cut down your availability to match, they might say there aren't enough hours for those days in a particular work week. 

This brings me to my next point; the management. 
I understand that in this economy, prices are high because of inflation and as such businesses need to cut costs to stay afloat. 
That has nothing to do with giving us proper pay however. There has to be a structure to undercutting work hours, so that the store output and worker compensation are just at the right level. The management hears corporate say that hours must be cut, and they do it in the most haphazard way possible. 
Does the workload or production output change? not at all. 
Do they waste tons of product without trying to sell it within a 24 hour period? Yes. 
Are there other ways to offset costs? Yes.

The issue isn't money, it's poor decisions made that will only make these situations worse. 

Give your workers their due. You aren't going to look at our skills and qualifications in a minimum wage hourly job, which is understandable. 
Give your workers their due, and we will be fine. 





I spent five years working at the Sobeys in my hometown. To begin, I was a cashier. I cannot say that at the age of 16 I was a stellar employee, I was involved in a time consuming sport and required a lot of time off. As the years progressed though, I did commit more time to the store because of financial needs during and shortly after university.

 However, I found that I was unable to move out of a student role- I was rarely given more than 15 hours per week (inconvenient shifts of sometimes just 3 hours at night). Only when I offered to work midnights during the one night a week that they needed coverage, did I get extra hours. The scheduling seemed very skewed towards providing the older ladies the most convenient shifts- ie in the mornings. When I moved about 20 minutes away from the store I was sharing a car with my spouse. I requested that I work in the mornings or in longer shifts so that I wouldn't have to ride my bicycle for 40 minutes to get to work. This request was not accommodated, I was often scheduled in the middle of the day, sometimes for just 3 hours at a time.

I seized an opportunity to move into the salad bar. The cashier's manager was openly annoyed by this and I was told by other staff that she made many upsetting comments behind my back. 

The salad bar was a whole different experience. The work and coworkers were much more enjoyable. However, the position was very stressful and had high turnover. Corporate set standards that we were consistently unable to meet and we took a lot of heat from our store manager for this. Hours were continuously cut, but production was expected in increase in quantity and quality.  

Since I have left, both my direct manager, a coworker, and a coworker who went on to be the next manager have all left the store and or left the salad bar. 

The pay is typically minimum wage, only full time employees seem to receive any sort of benefits, but they typically don't hire full time people. I would only recommend this organization to students, or people in between jobs. There is a chance that your local store will have a great manager willing to hire full time staff and develop them, but for the most part I would call this place a dead end.

When I first started working for Sobeys I was really excited. I got told I would be trained as we went on since I was in Floral. At the time I had a boss who was very nice and understanding. That boss ended up transferring stores and that's where everything went downhill. The new boss came in expecting me to know everything (even though I was not trained properly) this caused this boss to have high expectations that I could not meet. At the beginning of this year I was pulling full time hours. When corona hit I was forced onto the cash for grocery (without being trained) this was a lot for me to handle since I wasn't used to that department and the work load it had. I explained this to the store manager I said I would work anywhere needing help. Cash was just too much. They automatically cut my hours to nothing. I was out of my job for 2 months. When I returned my department was just opening up and my hours were cut in half... It was a bit before I was almost at my regular hours until the students came back from college. Then my hours got cut to less than part time (I moved out on my own and have bills that 4 hours a week will not pay for) my boss knew my situation and still cut my hours and gave them all to a student. I asked for an explanation but never received one until I did something wrong. The store manager and my boss pulled me into the office and bullied me, called me all these names and told me the reason for my cut hours was I didn't do the job properly. Which I didn't find fare enough because I wasn't Trained to begin with. Honestly my boss made me feel like I wasn't good enough, that everything I did was wrong, and she made me feel useless. I thought I found a career in floral design, but after being bullied and dropped like my life didn't matter it turned me the wrong way. Honestly save yourself the mental health trip. Save yourself the hassle of thinking you have a full time job. If you want to start off somewhere don't go here. The managers are cruel and will bully you. The store manager really is the biggest bully. Never have I ever had a store manager tell me the things he said to me. I lost respect for Sobeys as a company. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Order picker 22 salaries reported	$19.06 per hour
Meat cutter 22 salaries reported	$19.28 per hour
Pharmacien 51 salaries reported	$55.43 per hour
Cashier 15 salaries reported	$17.36 per hour
Boucher 26 salaries reported	$21.97 per hour

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