Salaries don't fit what's expected of employees at all. Outside of the HR department which is like a different world, some directors demand ridiculous work hours from their people. Now don't get me wrong: salaries at lidl US are not the worst. And there are other companies out there that suck the life out of their employees. Think of management consulting or investment banking. But if they do so at least they have to match salaries with expectations. And this is not the case at Lidl. A lot of people work 50 or 60 or at times 70 hours a week. Overtime pay: exactly zero. Gratitude from the company: nonexistent. If you approach management with the fact that someone working 15 hours per week extra earns the same as someone leaving at 5 every day, they just shrug their shoulders and say: Yeah, but we just have more work here. It's pathetic!
People get lured in with the promise of endless opportunity even when the starting salary is pretty low. And yes some people get promoted fast. I would put their number at around 10 to 15 percent of new hires. But for the vast majority it's just an illusion, a carrot on a stick you'll never get to, or only after many years. Or they just ship over someone from the parent company to be your boss. And you know what? That's okay, its fine. Just don't promise your people stuff that's not happening to keep wages down. That is not fair and it won't work in the long run.