ALDI Reviews

Current Employee – been working at ALDI full-time for less than a year

Pros – Fast paced, massive career opportunities, great pay and holidays. I've been working for Aldi for 12 months and I have been made a deputy manager after expressing my interest in becoming a manager. I am now hoping to get an assistant manager position in the next 12 months. The money is fantastic and so is the job. Honestly haven't got a bad word to say about the company.

Cons – I haven't got a single 'con' to write, the company is the best I've worked for.

Advice to Senior Management – There isn't a word of advice I could give to upper management. They are as committed and the store management and staff

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at ALDI full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good rate of pay, holidays,

Cons – Long hours that come with retail

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at ALDI full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great salary for sector, very challenging and never dull!

Cons – Long and often unpredictable hours, sometimes working unpaid. Incredibly high expectations and total lack of understanding from Head Office. No support or motivation from senior management, constant threat of disciplinary action being taken. No prospect of promotion beyond Store Manager (company policy!).

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your people, ask more than tell.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at ALDI full-time for less than a year

Pros – Good rate of pay (if you stick around). chance to progress within a short period of time. always something to do so you're not bored

Cons – Extremely hard work with sometimes far from realistic work time targets. Lucky to get a break, on an 11 hour shift you'll be lucky to get 15-20 minutes, in which time you might be called back out onto the shop floor. Management have no respect for staff and speak to you like garbage. No set hours. rota's change sometimes 24 hours before a shift, even when you're rota'd for a day off. Never finish on time, and can never seem to plan out a social life. Management threaten you with the possibility that you're going to lose your job almost constantly, rather than give you any friendly advice to keep you positive

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your staff and respect them, give them a break when they're due and arrange a rota that works, rather than have staff stay for 3 hours once they're shifts supposed to of been over

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at ALDI

Pros – Experience, responsibility and the pay.

Cons – Extremely long hours for the sector (70+ not uncommon) and stress created by steep performance expectations with few resources available to run operations. Aldi is a discounter wih increadible prices for the quality but achieves this in a number of ways, not least by keeping staffing levels very low and driving productivity rates to levels not seen elsewhere.

This all sounds fine, but in reality it makes for a tough working environment where your hours make up for the lack of colleagues - a convenient cost saving for the company, which employes well motivated individuals to achieve this. At store level breaks are often not taken, or simply cannot be taken if the store is too busy because there is simply no back up. Some stores may be staffed by only two people and both may be required on the cash tills if the store is busy, to the detriment of all other tasks that need to be undertaken in the store. This is fun and a buzz to begin with but the fun palls as the reality of your working life sinks in! The turnover of staff is prodigious - both self selecting and by the axe for those who can't keep the pace.

At Area or District Manager level, keen, ambitious, motivated people are selected to join the training programme with a healthy carrot of promotion opportunities and sector beating pay. If you are attracted by this do a bit of due diligence before accepting! The sector beating pay comes in annual increments - it doesn't start off fantastically. This gives Aldi a chance to vet you in role first. Fair enough? Area Managers in training are used to run stores in preparation for their promotion to fully trained area manager - this gives Aldi a fantastic resource of ambitious thrusters to be used to run difficult and often failing stores for less than the price of a fully trained store manager. An additional company benefit is that AM's in training voluntarily work any hours required (store managers often do not - mindful of employment laws!) to run their stores and will travel to wherever the company requires them to work without complaint unlike store managers. The loyalty is one way however - a large number of area managers in training are needed at any stage to fill roles in stores and because few will make the grade. A few from any intake will make full Area Manager and a few from this group will be promoted to Director in time. However the rest will usually 'leave' after a few years providing advancement opportunities for the next group of ambitious hard working talent.

In my 3 years I saw in excess of 30 people come and go to service 10 area manager positions. The clue is in how frequently Aldi advertises in the recruitment pages for these roles!

Advice to Senior Management – There is none to give - the Aldi model is the Aldi model and can't be changed without sacrificing their USP.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at ALDI full-time for more than a year

Pros – The pay, holidays off, not a clock watching job

Cons – Not consistent hours, late nights and early mornings, schedule constantly changes

Advice to Senior Management – Create a steady schedule that is fair for all employees, allow employees to have a good work/life balance. Don't expect everyone to jump up the second you change your mind about hours

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at ALDI part-time

Pros – Aldi is a great career for any hardworking person.

Cons – Just wish for more advance outside of store manager

Former Employee – worked at ALDI full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Pay & Benefits are second to none

Cons – Everyone is expected to do everything, from stocking to cashiering... wouldn't be bad, but this is a high paced environment. Upper level management does not communicate effectively with employees. Management does not usually promote District Managers from within. They prefer to hire anyone with a bachelor's degree - no experience necessary. This makes it hard because they don't know ANYTHING about procedure and often come in and try to change EVERYTHING!

Advice to Senior Management – PLEASE let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. It will save aggravation and frustration. Allow more internal hiring for District Managers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at ALDI as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Amazingly run company, many opportunities for advancement. They hire from within and reward loyalty.

Cons – Everyone is vying for the same positions and can be very competitive/cold to newcomers.

Advice to Senior Management – Pick better mentors for your new hires.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at ALDI full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great supervisors and management team

Cons – The hours always change, one week it may be long the next it may be short. People also don't get trained good enough.

Advice to Senior Management – No advice at this time

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company