Posted: 1/27/2009 6:14:20 PM EDT
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Publix imports employees
A viewer contacted Four In Your Corner's Justine Waldman with what he called "an outrage." Publix has an employment program where it ships in students from South America to work here. This is tough to swallow for the thousands of Southwest Floridans looking for work. To hire baggers, deli hands and register ringers Publix shops beyond Southwest Florida. For some 200 part-time jobs, Publix pays South American college kids to work here. Publix spokesperson Shannon Patten explains why, "these students are perfect for us because they help us handle extra volume at a time when we need it." The extra volume comes from the busy months of season. The students all have J-1 work visas and leave at the end of March. Publix imported foreign employees last year too. Four In Your Corner wants to know- why not just hire from home? Patten says, "when we started this program the unemployment rate was very low and we struggled to find folks to hire." Those stores are on Marco Island and Fort Myers Beach. "We struggled to get help there at because the people who live there don't want to work at Publix," says Patten. Just like the viewer who emailed Four In Your Corner, Publix customers Fox 4 spoke with want Publix to reconsider this program. "Hire people from Brazil? Absolutely not," says Kathy Lewis. "While helping out others is great the need is at home right now," says Dan O'Handley. "With unemployment where it is they should try to employ local people," says Godfrey Levy. Patten says considering the current job climate Publix does plan to revisit the student hires policy, "that is a decision for 2010. But for this year we do have these students working for us." Publix claims it is always accepting applications. 
Don't use the F-word in titles...VA-gunnut |
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Publix is very backwards about their hiring practice. Even with a masters degree, a friend of mine was told he had to start as a cashier for at least 6 months before he could be considered for management.
Here's a guy with 50 and 60k a year offers and Publix wants him to take $8 an hour... No wonder the jokers they have running the place thought this was a good idea. |
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Publix is very backwards about their hiring practice. Even with a masters degree, a friend of mine was told he had to start as a cashier for at least 6 months before he could be considered for management. Here's a guy with 50 and 60k a year offers and Publix wants him to take $8 an hour... No wonder the jokers they have running the place thought this was a good idea. Even with a masters degree the guy still has to learn the business. All the education in the world isn't better than real world experience and he wouldn't be able to know exactly what's happening on the floor and how to fix it if he's never done it before. This is also called promoting from within. A good thing. (Most of the time) |
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Even with a masters degree the guy still has to learn the business. All the education in the world isn't better than real world experience and he wouldn't be able to know exactly what's happening on the floor and how to fix it if he's never done it before. This is also called promoting from within. A good thing. (Most of the time) My last employer required employees to spend a day working at one of the restaurants cooking food, bagging orders, cleaning up, etc. to see what the rest of the workforce has to deal with. 6 months @ $8/hr to be CONSIDERED for management - with a Masters - thats ridiculous. |
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Not to be an apologizer here....but read what the article says. When they started the program, they could not get enough help. They stores that utilized this program were in Marco Island and FM Beach. Those stores had a hard time filling positions a couple of years ago. Nobody wanted to drive way out to Marco to make $8 an hour.
Now that the employment climate has changed, they are probably still within a contract(don't hate because they fulfill their agreements) that has yet to conclude. If you want to roll your eyes, look towards the MSM news outlet that was looking to make a story out of......whatever.  jj
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I dont see what the big deal is?  Americans apparently think a job at Publix is below their standards.So true. Most of the people complaining about this would not even take a job bagging at publix... just read above someone turned it down because they didn't want to bag for 6 months before attempting to get the manager position. Some manager he would have made. |
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THIS...
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I dont see what the big deal is? Americans apparently think a job at Publix is below their standards.I never understood how some, unemployed people can afford to be picky with finding work. I had a buddy who had a a couple of job offers but turned it down because he was "better" than the position being offered...WTF? YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB! Take it now and find something "better" later. |
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They don't do that much around here because they have a huge assortment of cute college girls to work for them. If you're not a cute girl you get to cut meat or break down boxes or bag groceries. Only cute girls and the managers can be cashiers. +1 here, I worked for publix as a kid and even then people did'nt want to work for XX amount of dollars. There is noone willing to do the work on those 2,basically resort,islands. Again this sounds like a good old fashioned "sour grapes" story from the MSM and some of thier supporters who can't get out of the "entitlement" mindset. If you go and get a job,any job,regardless of what you feel your entitled to, there will be none left for the foreigners willing to work for what others here wont.:D |
| Publix is consistently rated as one of the best corporations to work for by all the financial journals. They promote almost exclusively from within. About ten years ago, I knew a guy that worked as a mechanic servicing the delivery trucks based out of their northern Dade County warehouse. He was in his forties, and getting ready to retire, based on his Publix profit-sharing plan and Publix stock holdings. |
Publix is a good company. A job is what you do to feed you and your family. It does not make you who you are. I have a great job and I'm in management and I do pretty much what I want when I want. But I never have looked down on anyone for any job they do or said that I wouldn't be willing to do that job myself if I had to have had some pretty crappy jobs long hrs and little $ in the past ie: USMC $ US ARMY Inf for 23 yrs. At least they are working and not ripping us off. The gov would hate the competition 
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I never understood how some, unemployed people can afford to be picky with finding work. I had a buddy who had a a couple of job offers but turned it down because he was "better" than the position being offered...WTF? YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB! Take it now and find something "better" later.
I don't understand it either. There was a guy on another forum I'm on complaining about not getting enough work. On two separate occasions I pm'ed him about job ops at the company I work for. He declined to apply both times. These were good jobs. |
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I guess my point was kind of missed. I worked for a year in college as a recruiter for Target. They had a 10 week internship program, where you rotated around ever position in the store and learned management basics. If you did well you were offered a position in management.
No offense to anyone who works retail for a living, but it's very easy to pick up and figure out how to do any hourly position in the store. It may be hard work, but it's not the most complicated. Publix requiring him to work for a full six months before being CONSIDERED for a management position is plain stupid. I can understand a promote from within mentality, but when it's totally closed to outside sources like that, their pool of highly qualified applicants is extremely limited. No one I knew in college would have given up a 50-60k job offer for a six month trial run at $8 an hour. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Even with a masters degree the guy still has to learn the business. All the education in the world isn't better than real world experience and he wouldn't be able to know exactly what's happening on the floor and how to fix it if he's never done it before. This is also called promoting from within. A good thing. (Most of the time) My last employer required employees to spend a day working at one of the restaurants cooking food, bagging orders, cleaning up, etc. to see what the rest of the workforce has to deal with. 6 months @ $8/hr to be CONSIDERED for management - with a Masters - thats ridiculous. You don't learn the ins and outs of a business by doing menial work for a day. You learn the business by learning from the rank and file workers. You think it's stupid, but I think it's a good idea. Seems to be a particularly good one since all of the Publix managers I've been in contact with know their store's workings inside and out. Better than I can say for many businesses.  |
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You don't learn the ins and outs of a business by doing menial work for a day. You learn the business by learning from the rank and file workers. You think it's stupid, but I think it's a good idea. Seems to be a particularly good one since all of the Publix managers I've been in contact with know their store's workings inside and out. Better than I can say for many businesses.
This. I've read claims that it takes approximately two years on average before an employee is fully settled-in to a job and stops substantially learning new things about how to perform their job. From an organizational perspective, the goal is to maintain the proper culture, attitudes, and behaviors. Hiring someone in immediately as a manager, without any relevent experience, would be absolute idiocy on the part of the hiring department. A business degree does not mean jack shit in terms of practical knowledge. I know this. The only way to learn that is by living and working in that environment, which also gives management time to determine if the hire is competent enough to assume the responsibility. Whoever's bitching about jobs not going to Americans needs to either STFU or put up and apply at Publix. |
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Posts like this make me happy. Well thought-out, rational arguments! Somewhat of a rarity around here.
I shop at Publix because I can walk to it, thus keeping one more dollar away from foriegn oil suppliers each time I need groceries. The fact that they staff my local Publix with cute college girls doesn't hurt, either, although it does occasionally prompt the raised eyebrow & 'the look' from my wife. |