They have to scan 1,000 items an hour (Picture: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Have you ever been at a till in a supermarket when a cashier starts scanning items so quickly, it’s impossible to keep up? Yes, us too.

Well according to one employee, there’s a pretty good reason for that.

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Or at least there is when it comes to Aldi.

Apparently, staff at the cut-price supermarket are told to scan at least 1,000 items an hour – or face the boot.


That averages out at around one item every 3.5 seconds, and if the target is not met staff it’s reported that they can expect to be pulled into a meeting.

Deputy manager Andrei Ignatescu said those who miss the target can be ‘let go’ (Picture: Jenny Goodall)

Or face the sack (Picture: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Speaking to the Daily Mail, former deputy manager Andrei Ignatescu said those who miss the target can be ‘let go’ if it happens three times.

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However he added that, naturally, a lot of customers get annoyed because they don’t have enough time to bag their shopping.



He said: ‘Achieving a speed of 1,000 items an hour is a challenge because it depends on how the customer reacts. We all got performance reviews and deputy managers would get told if they were not keeping up.

‘If you don’t hit these targets, you are shown your actual speed and have a performance review meeting with managing staff. If this happens three times you can be let go.

‘I had to be fast and many customers were not happy about it. What they demand is unrealistic but they do it to keep pressure on staff. I took some days off because of the stress.’

Mr Ignatescu quit his job three weeks ago. He now works in construction.

A spokesman for the company said: ‘This former employee never raised any of these matters during his time with us and his claims are unrepresentative of the views of our 29,000 colleagues.

‘We encourage all our checkout staff to be as efficient as possible which helps us to keep prices low for our customers.

‘Our employees are trained to operate the checkout at the appropriate pace for each individual person they serve.’