Stop & Shop to Hire 5,000 Employees, Ratifies Pension Benefit Agreement
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. is looking to fill more than 5,000 positions across its stores, home delivery and distribution centers as it continues to expand its e-commerce capacity and improve in-store experience.
The available positions in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are permanent and include store roles in bakery, deli, grocery, seafood, produce, front end, night crew and online pickup. Stop & Shop is also hiring home delivery drivers and shoppers, as well as selectors at its distribution centers.
Stop & Shop revealed during the summer that it was investing heavily in e-commerce offerings to support its growing online operations. It added three new warerooms and approximately 50 more pickup locations to increase customer reach. The supermarket chain also expanded its partnership with San Francisco-based grocery delivery service Instacart.
“We’re happy to be able to offer professional opportunities with stability for the many whose jobs may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Maria Silvestri, SVP of human resources for Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop.
The 5,000 new positions are in addition to the 5,000 jobs that Stop & Shop sought to fill at the start of the pandemic in March.
Back in May, Stop & Shop and the United Food and the Union of Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) issued a joint statement calling on federal and state governments to designate associates at grocery stores as “extended first responders” or “emergency personal” to enable them to have priority access to testing, emergency child care and other protections.
In total, Stop & Shop has invested more than $121 million in its people throughout the pandemic in extended health care and leave benefits, which included offering paid time off for any associate who must quarantine, as well as access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and other measures to help keep them safe.
Other employee benefits include paid parental leave, which gives qualifying full-time associates of any gender and gender identity six weeks of fully paid leave during the first 12 months after the birth, adoption or legal placement of a child.
The food retailer is also committed to advancement from within, filling 80% of its open positions with Stop & Shop associates.
Interested individuals can apply online.
Stop & Shop also recently said its union locals have ratified an agreement to make a $667 million investment in pension benefits for union associates.
“We’re extremely pleased that this agreement has been ratified across the board. By making this significant investment, we are doing the right thing for our associates who are dedicated to serving our customers every day,” said Gordon Reid, president of Stop & Shop.
As part of the agreement, the following will occur:
- Stop & Shop will end its participation the UFCW Industry Pension Fund, known as the “National Plan.”
- Stop & Shop union associates will participate in a new variable benefit plan established by Stop & Shop, Kroger and the UFCW that is intended to sustainably provide future retirement benefits and reduce financial risk to the company.
Stop & Shop’s agreement covers approximately 18,000 current Stop & Shop associates who are members of UFCW Locals 1445, 1449, 328, 371 and 464A.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC, an Ahold Delhaize USA company, employs nearly 60,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
