Marco G.* (31) filled countless shelves and scanned millions of barcodes. He has been working at Coop for 15 years, where he has risen from apprentice to branch manager. During that time, however, he rarely saw a colleague switch to Aldi or Lidl. “I remember only three such cases,” he says in an interview with SonntagsBlick.
This is great. Because a race is underway for the highest minimum wage in the Swiss food trade – Coop and Migros have long been surpassed by German discounters.
The minimum wage for unskilled workers at Aldi Suisse is currently CHF 4,646 per month and 42 hours per working week. Lidl Switzerland is valid for 41 hours per week and has a minimum of 4,500 francs. 13-month wage guarantee at both discounters.
Migros and Coop offer unskilled workers only CHF 4,100 and Migros plans to increase this amount by CHF 100 by 2024. But at present, the difference with discounters is up to 546 francs per month and even 7,098 francs per year – a sizable sum especially for low-income earners.
How come the orange giants don’t experience squad exits despite this difference? What does a marketer earning 4,100 francs do at the Coop or Migros cashier when he can get ten percent more at Aldi or Lidl?
Fewer locations
Marco G. has several explanations for this. “One reason is that Aldi and Lidl have much less space, especially in the countryside,” he says. For many Cooperatives and Migros vendors, there is no change due to the long commute time. “Especially people with kids rely on being able to get home at lunch time to cook.”
Another reason is workload. “Discounters have fewer people for the same space,” says the long-time retail employee. Marco G. knows from co-workers who work at discounters that therefore employees will need to unload more pallets per person. “This isn’t bad in itself, but it can be a burden, especially for older workers.”
Anne Rubin, responsible for retail trade at the Unia union, observed that career and educational opportunities at Coop and Migros were more diverse than at higher discounters. Part-time work is also important: “Lidl and Aldi tend to have lower guaranteed workloads and greater time flexibility. Almost only branch managers and assistants work full time.” A glance at job postings confirms this.
more benefits
Coop and Migros also point to their respective shares of pension fund benefits and “very good fringe benefits”. The spokesperson for Coop talks about loyalty bonuses and the many bonuses, highlighting a contribution of at least 800 francs per year for offers in the fields of club schools, fitness and entertainment to his colleague from Migros.
Lidl does not want to speculate on why Coop and Migros employees do not apply collectively. Aldi handles things in a pretty sporty way. “We are happy for our competitors that their employees are loyal to them,” the media office writes. And she adds with a wink: “We can count on the active commitment of many of our longtime employees, some of whom have been loyal to us since Aldi Suisse was founded.”
With this, Aldi cites something that Coop employee Marco G. also mentions: “Many of them are loyal to their company, probably simply because they fear change and love their current employers.”
* Name changed
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
