The Reason You Don't See Many Employees At Aldi

Shopping at Aldi for the first time after only visiting "normal" grocery stores might be a bit of a culture shock. You have to "pay" a quarter to get a cart, the selection is minimal and comprised mostly of store brands, and bags aren't provided (nor will staff bag groceries for you). Oh, and most surprisingly, if you look around, you may not notice any employees refilling shelves, helping customers, or idly sitting (yes, sitting) at the checkout lines as they would at other grocery stores.

The reason for this is twofold. For one, hiring fewer employees helps keep costs down for customers, which reflects on its overall efficiency. The staff at each store is also trained to do multiple jobs, from stacking shelves to checking customers out, meaning they can move to where they're needed when the time comes. Folks who have worked at the grocer say that there is very little idle time; they are always on their feet moving stock, working the register, or removing those pesky boxes that customers leave behind. 

Although the store's low prices are one of its selling points, the fact that the store has very few staff members (and the occasional bottleneck) is one frequent complaint about the chain. If you've had to stand in a long line at the register before an employee has the chance to call for backup, you know that this is the case. It also means that when you're using self-checkout, which is, for the most part, unmanned, you may have to wait a moment for a staff member to clear a double-scanned item or answer a question, should they be assisting another customer. 

The good news about this, though, is that Aldi staff members are trained on efficiency. The cashiers are quite speedy because they don't have to stop and bag your items, or wait for you to bag as they swipe items across the register, so you shouldn't expect to be standing in a line for that long. And even if you do have to flag down a staff member, think for a moment about how much you're saving on groceries by shopping there, then decide if it's worth harboring contempt about the store's staffing policies.