Greeters are there to discourage shoplifters, and they’re men because of the slightly increased authority-slash-intimidation factor.
As a male ex-cashier, I can verify that IME males are less common. We do have about 5 out of a staff of >50 currently. (Wal-Mart in case anyone cares.)
We have a few male cashiers at the local Sobey’s. Probably one guy to every four women.
Actually, I should say one BOY to every four women. In general, the male cashiers all seem to be students trying to make a few extra bucks after school, whereas the women range from students to middle-aged moms to older empty-nesters.
Based on what I saw when I was working retail (albeit not in a grocery store), the women tend to stay with low-level part time jobs like cashier because they have small children and can’t afford the cost of daycare and/or after-school programs if they were to go full time (but at the same time, can’t afford to be full time SAHMs). This pressure doesn’t apply quite as much to men, traditionally-speaking anyways.
The only men working in the store who look to be my age (30) or older seem to work in the back (stockroom and butcher shop) or in management-type roles.
When I was in high school, the part time checkers and baggers were nearly always male; girls simply weren’t hired in most supermarkets on a part time basis. The full time checkers were nearly always women, though. I see a mix at my local Publix now.
Ireland’s different from the UK in this repect, then. I see loads of males on checkouts.
And when I order from a catalog, I usually have a male taking my order.
A Chicago chain, Jewel Foods, not only has male checkers and baggers, it tries (at least in the suburbs) to hire handicapped or disabled baggers. It may not be the world’s greatest job, but most of these baggers take great pride in their work.
The grocery store near my house has both male and female check-out clerks and baggers, but the only middle-aged ones are women; all the males are quite young (mid-20s or younger, I’d say).
Funny you should mention Jewel Foods, of all places. I was going to mention that chain before I even read your post.
Anyway, back in 1986, when I worked there for part of a summer between high school and college, males simply did not work as checkers. This was never stated as such; instead, I got led on for weeks before I realized that I was never going to get a position as a checker.
Instead, I bagged for a few weeks. This included carrying groceries out to people’s cars–and tipping was prohibited according to signs posted to that effect. I was then was put to work “facing.” This thankless job involved bringing food items to the front of each shelf for 8 hours straight. By the time you finished a shift, it was time to start back at the beginning. :rolleyes:
My request to work as a checker was ignored, and my only other option was to wait for an opening in stocking–so I quit and went back to McDonald’s for higher pay.
P.S. I also got hit up for mandatory union dues (out of my minimum wage pay)–all for a union that protected the right of the senior people to get way more money than me, plus benefits.
Supermarkets around here usually have at least one guy on the checkout, often two. They’re usually young, and extremely fast. I have a feeling that growing up with a keyboard in their hands has given young males the right stuff, cashier-wise. Their grandfathers grew up as occasional hunt-and-peck men, qwerty-virgins, generally confused by a keyboard, if they ever approached one at all. Those days are gone. Mind you, cashiers are disappearing too, as self check-out takes over. The reign of the male cashier is ending just as it got going.
Same here.
I looked up Publix, and it’s a southern chain. That probably explains the baggers. It seems like there’s more customer service down there.
I wonder if this is one of those things that just hasn’t caught up in Ireland with the “rest of the western world.”
Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I worked for a small chain of supermarkets (3 locations), and I was the first male cashier, and first male “head cashier/front office worker”. Since then, many more guys came to work both the office, and the registers. I was also the first male worker in an ice cream shop in town, but was also followed by others.
It was for a long time something that men would never have been considered for, but as times changed, so did the expectations re: gender roles.
I’d imagine that in time, you’ll begin to see male cashiers in your area too.
This may be so. I don’t know why Ireland would be backward in this regard when it isn’t in any other regard I can think of. Perhaps all male employees that are hired are given more strenuous work, packing shelves or the like. Another thing I noticed that apart from maybe at the meat counter there are seldom men over the age of about 30 working in these stores either. I don’t go to that many supermarkets so that might just be in my area. The checkout attendents tend to be 40 - 60 age group for the most part but with a sizeable number of a younger age.
I shop at several different stores in the same chain and the mix of female to male checkers strikes me at about 65-35. The stock clerk staff seems predominantly male. There are generally baggers and more are male.
Here in Cleveland, it seems to be:
Giant Eagle, Heinen’s, Marc’s, Dave’s, Whole Foods, Wild Oats: almost exclusively female, with the occasional male.
Trader Joe’s: half men, half women
In Buffalo:
Tops, Quality, independents: almost exclusively female
Wegmans: 80-90% female, 10-20% male
I’ve seen a similar gender divide in fast food restaurants; women work at the register, men in the kitchen. When I was a teenager in the 1980s, the neighborhood McDonalds would not accept applications from men for counter jobs.
Trader Joe’s does seem to have a higher percentage of male checkers. The ones here are older as well–in the 25-30 range.
Most supermarkets in my area are just so predominantly female it’s rare to see a man anywhere, period. DIA seems to be 100% female. But except for areas which require specialized training (butcher, fishmonger), it’s common to see people rotate between different jobs. The stockers that come from suppliers are often (but less and less with time) male; those at the stores are the same folks who tend the till, bag your goods (there’s no baggers in Spain, you usually do it yourself, with the cashier helping so things go faster) or come help you choose the right brand of cereal.
The reason many cashiers are in the older range is because it’s a sit-down job.
I think ours must be very nearly 50-50 in all jobs. I know most of the staff by sight and it’s pretty even.
It’s weird, because at the grocery stores I visit in Olympia and Lacey, it’s mostly women; in Missoula, it’s usually men. If I’m at a Trader Joe’s, anywhere I’ve been, there’s a 50/50 chance on women versus men.
Cashiers can sit down? We were encourage to not even lean against a solid surface.
In my case, and the case of the other male cashiers that I knew, they had to specifically ask to be hired into that position, or to transfer into the cashier role. The default was some sort of stock position if you were a guy.
Nava is from Spain. Here in the US Aldi is the only place I’ve ever seen cashiers allowed to sit (excluding pregnant women).