Wegmans is one of the largest employers in Monroe County, NY, where the company has its headquarters.
Might its ranking slip because of self-checkout?
Store by store, registers are being replaced by scanners. Aisles once staffed by cashiers are supplanted by scanning stations overseen by far fewer employees. At a few stores, shoppers can scan each item on their phone as they shop, then stop at the self-checkout to pay.
There seems to be little grumbling about this in the Wegmans workforce. The company, after all, has never laid off workers, even when it closed its hardware subsidiary, Chase-Pitkin, in 2006.
Layoffs are one thing. Hours are another. It will be interesting to see if cashiers get fewer hours as self-checkout takes hold. Maybe Wegmans will handle the transition by filling fewer positions as employees retire or take new jobs. Cashiers might also be moved to other departments, as the company shifts to more online ordering. (Employees of stores with the self-checkout aisles tell me that their main effect has been to replace the old express lanes.)
Regardless, while the purported reason for self-checkout is customer convenience, a plus for Wegmans will inevitably be reduced payroll.
This is a nationwide trend. CNBC reports that retail was one of the few business sectors that lost jobs in recent years. One of the main reasons: automation.
So should you boycott unmanned checkouts? I guess it depends on your point of view, how many items you have, and how much of a hurry you’re in.
Personally, I steer clear of them as potential job killers.
Does anyone know when W-2s for Wegmans self checkout will be sent out?
— BuffaloJoeSells.com (@joeya1) December 27, 2019