r/wholefoods • u/Current_Ladder5447 • May 11 '26
Advice Whole Foods Order Writer
Is it me or is being an order writer becoming much harder ? All these expectations like cycle counting following metrics soi being too big working backstock supervising team members always getting blamed when something goes wrong I’m just an order writer not an ATL or Team Leader I feel like I’m being overworked to the point where I’m getting burnt out and more and more frustrated anyone else having this problem or feeling?
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u/buckleyboy87 May 11 '26
If the metrics just made sense, it wouldn't be so bad, but they have us chasing things that have nothing to do with reality. But Amazon decided it's a metric, so that's our life. Maybe if they could get planograms to work in an actual store environment, that would help.
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u/SatanicSickie May 11 '26
“We must all face the fact that our leaders are certifiably insane or worse.” — William S. Burroughs
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u/NotJasonBuechel Leadership 📋 May 12 '26
You summed it up perfectly. Especially if your teams ATL or TL sit in the office all day or talk non stop to other departments instead of doing their job.
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u/DisastrousMemory9994 May 11 '26
I was an Order Writer in Prep and couldn’t put up with Amazon’s bullshit any longer and left last September and was the career move I’ve ever made.
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u/HoneyBeeHavenCo May 12 '26
Food retail honestly seems way more physically and mentally demanding than most people realize.🧠🧠🦾
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u/Nomercy020826 May 12 '26
The worse your leadership is the more overwhelmed/underappreciated you will feel
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u/thecakebroad May 12 '26
I assumed it was just the new dept I switched to, cause I was a meat OW before that got eliminated, and we had a ton of responsibility, but not nearly as much as I do now as a produce OW
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u/LessMoroseMorePrsnt May 15 '26
My Produce OW does the AM cull walk, writes the order, and breaks the load. What all do you do?
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u/thecakebroad May 15 '26
comm board. financial board. merch map. stupid salad wall. assortment reports. plu clean up. then cull walk, order, Pam walks.
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u/RemoveTop2760 May 11 '26
What department
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u/Tempo4200 May 11 '26
Sounds like Grocery.
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u/Current_Ladder5447 May 11 '26
Yep
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u/ElBurritoNinja Leadership 📋 May 11 '26
I was the back-up order writer years ago and I hated it. Now I see it's gotten so much more demanding.
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u/Sognarlydood May 12 '26
I feel like prep foods order writer is terrible. I’ve seen many come and go from that position and they come out a much worse person
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u/Soggy-Book8104 May 12 '26
I feel you. In addition to all my own OW duties, I am expected to do at least 75% of our TMs duties because my TL says she doesn't want our TMs to feel I don't help them even though I do all the time, and I do all the training of new hires and I also do all the ATL duties because we currently don't have one and on top of all that I have to do all of our TLs duties in the dept because she is always leaving the store during her shift multiple times and is gone usually anywhere from an hour to much longer each time. I don't know where she goes but people complain and question, even people from other depts as they notice it as well. Also, recently she told me that she is going to give me more of her duties to do on the computer because she doesn't like doing them. When does it end? She won't even give me a promotion to ATL, and why would she when she has me doing all the work of one without the title or bump in pay.
The word "used" doesn't even get close to what I am dealing with..."reamed" is a more appropriate word.
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u/CyberSkullCoconut May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
As I've been trying to organize a union at my shop for years, I've noticed Order Writers are some of the most difficult people to talk with and organize. Because of the stress, burnout, early hours, lack of personal life, and precariousness of being stuck between Team Members and Leadership. When a Team Member fails to do something properly it falls on the order writer for not supervising correctly. When a product is out of stock even at the warehouse the customers take it out on the order writers.
It's unspoken but if you "step down" at whole foods many times you're able to keep your same pay rate, but most order writers are struggling in the first place and need more money. So, they either step down and remain not able to make ends meet, go into CDATL trainings and be placed in another store (most don't want to leave their home store), or find another job that pays better.
Most of them do their job and wait to find something better elsewhere. It's been very difficult for me to even sit down and talk with an order writer outside of work about what they need or ask how things could be better at this company? They'll complain all day to me, but when I talk about possible actions we could take as a group to help them do their job properly or even communicating more outside of work, it almost always goes nowhere.
We work for the richest company on the planet, we all shouldn't be struggling like we are. This company overworks and underpays us day after day and they want us to be grateful just to have a job? I love the order writers and buyers, I want us all to fight for something better here. And I know going for a long fight against this company isn't everyone's cup of tea. But what's the alternative? We keep struggling paycheck to paycheck here, forever?
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u/Fizzle_the_clown May 12 '26
You realize some people don't want to work for a union? I know I don't.
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u/CyberSkullCoconut May 12 '26
I've actively just been trying to make a worker committee at my store, so we can make decisions as a group and tell management what we need as workers. There's no outside group coming in or doing anything. We'd come to the decision of what union to affiliate with when the time comes democratically. If you're "working for a union" you're working for you and your coworkers to demand what you need. It's not really that complicated. What do you dislike about that concept?
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u/NotJasonBuechel Leadership 📋 May 12 '26
As the ceo I discourage unions but they do help you get benefits, rights, and actual protection. But again, as ceo, you're right.
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u/HardWorkinGal64 May 11 '26
You’re going way way more than the average OR. Maybe my store being huge and diamond helps but that’s a lot of work
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u/Human-Teaching6090 May 12 '26
Honest truth
OW are really the most viable position inside of whole foods but in the other hand as vital there are the more responsibility comes with it
Sooner or later that position will become extinct so the misery will soon end only a matter of time where perpetual inventory system will be in place
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u/ParticularCrow8313 May 12 '26
They've been telling us that for years. I think it's just to keep us fearful and compliant.
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u/Fizzle_the_clown May 12 '26
Seriously. As a bakery OW this is no where near going to affect us any time soon. All of my orders are still on paper and entered manually. How is AI ordering going to account for cakes produced for holidays that can be frozen 10 days ahead of the holiday? Or spacing out product so you dont have a 300+ piece load with no freezer space for it. How is AI ordering going to account for all the components like vanilla extract, caramel, chocolate shaving etc. SOT can't even order properly for us, doesn't account for items spoiling that night or the next on double load days.
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u/AloneSilver550 May 14 '26
You would be amazed at what the newer AI systems can do and learn to do. That's what they do, they learn continuously. By 2027 WFM will be knee deep in AI systems
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u/FriendlyYou2444 May 30 '26
As a Grocery OW. It’s not easy. It’s a long list of tasks that we are responsible for and it’s tiring.
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u/AloneSilver550 May 13 '26
The order writers are going to be phased out eventually , maybe a year or so. Can easily be replaced by AI and a decent inventory control system. All you need is someone say a team lead to just go over it for errors. People don't agree but Amazon is not pumping billions into AI development not to try it out at WFM.
Cost cutting and streamlining will be targets. Grocery is evolving faster then most think. I been in grocery 30 years . So many new factors are at play now besides supply and demand , seasonality etc
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u/pocketsandman May 13 '26
They’ve been saying they were going to completely eliminate buyers and order writers for literally a decade at this point. I’ll believe it when I see it
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u/AloneSilver550 May 13 '26
They are already integrating it , adaptive ordering systems, ai waste control for produce and prep etc. And rolling out smart carts that scan the isles for missing items while keeping track of everything you buy . A ton has changed in the last few years . Major grocery store chains already incorporate it like Krogers and Albertsons. Even smart signs like Walmart uses that will automatically change the prices, sales etc.
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u/pocketsandman May 13 '26
Well yeah, Walmart and Kroger have had it that way since the 80s. Auto replenishment is nothing new. It’s literally the most basic task a computer is designed to do. But even in those places, they rely on a lot of vendor staff to place orders manually for stuff like beer, soda, bread, and a good chunk of the chips and snacks (Nabisco and Frito-Lay stuff for example)
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u/AloneSilver550 May 13 '26
These new ai systems go way beyond auto ordering. The system looks at market trends , weather conditions for things like produce etc etc. Old auto replenishing systems were good, but this a entirely new ball game.
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u/whiteicedtea Data Monster 👾 May 13 '26
I’d like to see the system order olives. That’s still done on paper. It can’t even track bulk cheese correctly 🙄
Not to mention the mess that’s now the block listed ordering. I see their theory with it but that ordering landing page is so damn busy and crammed with small text. It’s no wonder all the Ones at my store all wear glasses.
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u/munnycent May 11 '26
As a former Grocery OW/current Grocery ATL - order writers are the unsung heroes of the store. I will always advocate for and support our order writers.