After Sales Plummet, Walmart Realizes it Can’t Run Stores on Temps Alone

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/after-sales-plummet-walmart-realizes-it-can-t-run-stores-temps-alone-1380119127

After cutting employees’ hours so deeply that stores could not keep their shelves stocked, Walmart is adding more full-time workers in time for the holiday shopping season. The retail giant has been shedding customers recently due to disorganized stores and empty shelves.

Walmart started aggressively cutting staff during the recession. Over the past five years, its total American workforce dropped by 120,000, even as the company opened more than 500 new U.S. stores. The result is longer check-out lines, backlogged inventory, and poor customer service — not to mention employee protests all over the country. Now, amid plunging sales and massive strikes, even Walmart has conceded it can’t run a business on a skeleton crew. Over the next few months, the company will move 35,000 part-time workers to full-time, and another 35,000 temporary workers will become part-time staff.

<snip>

Walmart defends its poor labor practices as necessary to keep prices down. But as Walmart’s sales dropped with its payrolls, other retailers have proven that treating workers well is not mutually exclusive to a good deal. Walmart’s competitor, Costco, offers its employees an average wage of $21.96 an hour, about 40 percent more than Walmart employees make. Costco enjoyed a 19 percent increase in profits last quarter as Walmart sank, generating much more revenue and profit per worker. WinCo, a smaller grocery chain based in Idaho, boasts full health benefits for anyone working over 24 hours a week and retirement accounts for more than 400 workers — while maintaining prices even lower than Walmart’s.

[Kurska]

1. I went to wall mart at 10pm once and there wasn't a single checkout line open.

The only thing you could do was those ridiculous self-checkout kiosks that might work well for tiny purchases, but for an entire grocery trip is pretty much the 11th circle of hell and errors.

There is a reason I never go to walmart if it isn't literally the only thing open (publix closes at 9)

[PatrynXX]

10. I prefer those

they don't make mistakes. unfortunately nobody maintains them.

[Kurska]

11. I can never get the things to actually work.

I constantly get the check bagging area voice over and over again, I feel like I am doing it right, I think the machine just might be busted a lot of the time.

[RoccoR5955]

12. Well when you use those mechanized checkouts

you are putting people out of work!
I NEVER use them. I will wait in line with one item to not use them, just to be served by a human being!

So if you use these stop complaining when they come for YOUR job, as you are encouraging them!

[oldbanjo]

21. They told me I had to check myself out

I told them they could put everything back on the shelves and I would shop somewhere else so a manager ran over and checked me out. They can hire more people I will never check myself out. People need jobs I don't.

[Blanks]

22. I'm not sure I believe that.

I've heard the claim before, but I don't think its a good idea to avoid technology in the hopes that it will save jobs.

I hate the machines, that's why I don't use them, but I don't think you're gonna have much of an impact on their staffing policies by refusing to use them.

20 years ago I wouldn't have avoided a grocery store because they had more efficient cash registers, that's how I look at this. Eventually they'll all go to those damn things. When I was a kid they still pumped gas at the filling station - the folks who refused to go to the 'pay at the pumps' didn't save the gas attendant's jobs. Same thing.

[think4yourself]

29. I boycott those machines too.

I despise everything they represent.
There's always someone from the store who cheerfully suggests I use them.
My answer is always the same, "I hate those things. I'll wait here."
They never save any time because I always screw it up anyway.

[mbperrin]

64. Believe it. Those guys did more than pump gas - they checked tires, fluids, cleaned windows, vacuum

the floorboards, but a dumb 16 year old like me didn't appreciate that - hey! I could save 2 cents on gas and only pay 6 cents a gallon instead of the horrible 8 whole cents! Thank gawd we did that, or gas might be THREE DOLLARS a gallon! Um, I mean, oops.

Now when my 86 year old mother in law who lives 150 miles away in the Panhandle goes to the station, who pumps her gas in subzero wind chills? Yep, she does. Check her tires and all that? Nope. Well, what could go wrong?

These new checkout lines don't even pretend to give you a discount, and they provide no service like bagging, price checks on bar codes that don't scan, and the like. Our Albertson's here took them out after 90 days. I and a whole series of other geezers got onto the manager there ( a former student of mine) and told him that we disapproved of doing someone else's job for free, and that I wouldn't be back until they were gone. He called me at home at the end of summer to let me know they were gone.

This is not new technology, either - it's the same barcode scan a living employee would use, the same bags, the same weight scale. You just do the work, instead of them. And one more thing - when your purchases were taken to the car, every basket came back with the carryout person, ensuring they're all in all the time.

Now huge trains of baskets being pulled by a small tow vehicle gets some of the baskets in, but leaves tons of them out there to be stolen or damaged. Now please show how any money is saved there. Service is going to count for even more as we baby boomers age.

[JDPriestly]

68. The change with regard to pumping gas was due to the realization that pumping gas as a regulsr

job was killing people.

It wasn't altogether a matter of saving money. We used to have lead and bad stuff in our gasoline. It's much better and safer now but still . . . . nobody is taking their chances.

[maddiemom]

76. Wow! I never realized that . Wonderful that gas station owners were really thinking of the health

of their employees at the pumps when they eliminated their jobs (and their services to customers).

[JDPriestly]

77. Liability! Oregon still requires that a gas station attendant pump your gas.

Depends on the state.

[Ace Acme]

84. New Jersey too, last I knew. nt

[JDPriestly]

85. I couldn't say for sure, but I think that pumping gas is no longer such a dangerous job.

[Ace Acme]

86. There's that elaborate vapor-recovery system now. nt

[tabbycat31]

87. Go to New Jersey

They pump your gas there.

[skepticscott]

30. I assume then that you've never

bought anything over the internet, never researched a vacation or booked airline tickets or a hotel reservation online and never used an ATM?

[RoccoR5955]

39. I don't travel by plane

I don't use hotels.
I have to use an ATM, or my bank gets fees
and I only occasionally use the Internet to shop.
Whenever I am in a brick and mortar store, I use HUMAN check outs.

[skepticscott]

40. No, you don't have to use an ATM

Go to the bank, stand in line, and get your money from a teller. You want to be served by real humans, right? And support their jobs, right?

When you use an ATM, you're putting real people out of work. So spare us your hypocrisy.

[RoccoR5955]

57. If I use human tellers

I have to pay bank fees on the checking account.
On the other hand, when I make a deposit to my credit union savings account, I use either drive-up or traditional tellers.
I do not consider myself a hypocrite, because whenever I can, I use human service.

[skepticscott]

62. So you use ATMs to save money

at the expense of other people jobs (according to you). How noble. Well, I use self-checkout to save time, which is as important to me as money is to you. So what right do you have to upbraid anyone for doing the same thing you do?

[neffernin]

65. Improvements in science and technology

How anyone can argue that improving technology is a bad thing boggles me. Yes, people could be working scanning and filling up shopping carts. But people could be dying from the black plague and still walking from point A to point B. The hard truth is everything we do on the daily basis, such as posting on a message board, are all due to the streamlining and efficiency we've achieved as a society over the past 30-40 years.

That being said, the common person has only reaped the rewards that corporations choose to give. And when I say give, I mean sell. This is what capitalism does to us; it gives us all a slightly better quality of life but at the same time robs of us all dignity, power and control.

[RoccoR5955]

75. So just throw technology at the problem, and it'll be fixed.

I hear this each and every day, in my job as a computer tech. Many of these people don't need the damn technology to get the job done. Some muckley muck just wants to impress his corporate masters.
People can get a lot of these jobs more efficiently without the damn computers.
Some of these damn muckley mucks think that you just have to put a computer in front of someone and they are automatically more productive!
Also when the technology fails, due to blackouts, or hardware failures, people don't know how to do the job without it, and thus don't get the job done at all.

Yes, technology is good for some things, but some things it sucks at.
For instance. Now a days, when I want support for a computer, router, or some other tech, I have to log onto one of these message boards, and hope that someone will be able to give me an answer. There used to be a time, when I would call up, the company would know who I am, by who I worked for, and immediately send me up to nth level support. I can tell you of more than one time where I actually spoke to the engineer who designed the product, when it wouldn't work as described. Today, you get in queue with someone in a third world country, making pennies a year, who speaks with such an accent that you only understand every third word that they recite from their script. When you have to get kicked up a level in support, you have to go through their script, then they MIGHT kick it up. Eventually, you may get to third level, but you NEVER make it to the levels that you got to in the past, with the people who have some knowledge of the product.
If this is what technology is bringing us, I think that it has to be re-evaluated, to see if its worth while for the population using the products, or if they are just concerned with separating the buyer from his or her cash.

[RoccoR5955]

73. No, I use them because my bank started charging fees

a few years ago, and I am kind of busy.

[skepticscott]

80. Ah, I see..you're not doing it to save money

You're doing it because your bank started charging fees.

[RoccoR5955]

82. That, and I am a bit busy

to move it over to the credit union.

[yeoman6987]

35. Self Checkout

Actually self checkout is much faster. I like them because you literally get to see each transaction directly. It was a great invention. They still have plenty of workers checking out.

[Ace Acme]

58. Seeing the transaction is very important.

My elderly mom is constantly getting ripped off by human checkers. She buys the sale item and they charge her full price, or they charge her for a more expensive item. Their "mistakes" NEVER save her money.

If they had a proper display at the human checkout, she could correct their "errors" in real time instead of having to go to customer service after the transaction.

I've seen scanner machines that announce the item and the price. There ought to be a law that the customer gets a readable display instead of having to look over the checker's shoulder at the checkers' screen.

[Ace Acme]

71. I'd rather use an ATM than a bank teller.

The ATM doesn't make scripted inquiries about how my day's going or how my weekend was.

[skepticscott]

81. No, and a self check machine

doesn't hold up the freaking line while Madge gabs with Mildred about her husband's bursitis.

[davidpdx]

38. I prefer using the self-checkouts

Here in Korea only one retailer, Homeplus (owned by Tesco), has them (both in Korean and English). The stores don't bag your groceries anymore, so I don't see much of a reason to stand in line. The ones there are suppose to be for 10 items or less. I'm not sure about the American stores. It's been over 2 years since I've been in the US.

[CrispyQ]

42. I love self checkout.

Until the stores start training the employees how to bag groceries properly I will check & bag my own. Several times I've watched the bagger start bagging the items in the order they are coming down the check stand, putting my tomatoes or bread in the bottom of the bag. When I intervene they get all pissy. WTF? Do these kids get any training at all? I won't even go into how clerks hand back change these days, cuz I already sound like an old fart.

[clffrdjk]

44. As someone who runs a register

If a customer throws money at me I will throw it back at them. I am not a stripper don't throw your shit at me.

[CrispyQ]

45. I don't throw money & I don't know why you assume I do.

I also don't know why you think it's ok to throw money at a stripper. Don't they deserve respect, too? They certainly take a lot more shit in their job, than you do.

Maybe you should switch to decaf.

[clffrdjk]

46. Just bitching about customers I did not mean to direct it at you

That moment of money exchange is a pet peeve of mine. And strippers get paid a hell of a lot more than I do because of how they are treated.

[CrispyQ]

56. I understand.

I worked grocery for years. You'd hold your hand out for their change & they would dump it on the counter. I realized that there are a lot of people in the world who feel powerless in their own lives & will be mean & rude to someone else, just cuz they can.

[NaturalHigh]

2. I hate Walmart, but I have to go sometimes.

There is only one other grocery store in town, and they just don't have the same selection there. I tried going there a couple of weeks ago to get my wife some fruit, but the selection was so terrible that I ended up throwing in the towel and going to Walmart.

I would really love to complain about the long check out times and lack of open registers at Walmart, but I'm afraid that it will just get the employees trying to do their jobs in trouble with management.

[eridani]

14. Thanks to MallWart putting so many other stores out of business, plenty of people---

--really don't have any other options. Luckily for me, Costco is actually closer to me than the nearest MallWart.

[NaturalHigh]

15. I wish we had one around here.

Costco, that is.

[Enthusiast]

41. Me too.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Duh! Makes you wonder why they pay those execs so much

when any one of us could have predicted this....but they couldn't.

I am glad for all those part-timers who will now be full-time, and the temps who will move to part-time. Too bad the decision was not made because it is the right thing to do.

[SheilaT]

4. One wonders if the growing number of those

who never go to WalMart aren't a factor here.

I was last in one perhaps ten years ago. I used to shop at them more or less regularly. Over time I'd noticed the vastly declining quality of the things I'd buy there, and just stopped. Then I became aware of their terrible employee policies and pay, and simply will not go to one.

[DonCoquixote]

5. Here is what happened

A lot of our elites, including Ms. Clinton, speak of India and China as these "emerging markets." What that means in practice is that the oligrachs are happy to think that they no longer have to pretend they give a dman about the Middle class..if America screws up, they can always have Beijing and Bombay, with their governments offering hordes of obedient workers and consumers, with cheap labor and cheap, cheap lives.

The problem is, even the rich need someone to actually BUY something from them, and as of now, we are the ones that buy. That means if we cannot make enough money to buy their crap, the Waltons go down with the rest of us.

[Populist_Prole]

52. Yes

"The problem is, even the rich need someone to actually BUY something from them, and as of now, we are the ones that buy. That means if we cannot make enough money to buy their crap, the Waltons go down with the rest of us"

They realize this, but they don't want to realize this. Not only would this scale back their gravy train ( if only slightly ) but it would so embolden those that are better kept meek. This is all about class and power.

[Ace Acme]

59. The Emerging Market v. the Saturated Market

That's a shrewd observation, DonCo, about the potential growth in consumer spending in emerging markets.

Our country would appear to be about tapped out, with consumers up to their eyeballs in credit card debt, and a huge inventory of used stuff on the secondary market so that anybody who wants a computer, a TV, a car, or a camera can get it cheap. Emerging markets lack those impediments to growth.

Of course the way the rich make their money really is by selling debt, and the growth in debt in economies that have not yet been significantly penetrated by credit cards is going to make some people boatloads of money.

[Populist_Prole]

60. Rent seeking and labor arbitrage

To this end: "Emerging Markets" = We'll produce there and sell there ( and here )

It worked in the 90's and fooled most people, but not so now.

[DonCoquixote]

79. exactly, and furthermore

"Our country would appear to be about tapped out, with consumers up to their eyeballs in credit card debt, and a huge inventory of used stuff on the secondary market so that anybody who wants a computer, a TV, a car, or a camera can get it cheap. Emerging markets lack those impediments to growth. "

Why do you think that companies tried to first stop the sale of used compact discs, then tried to crush downloads of music, until some genius realized that "cloud computing" allowed access to everything, but no actual ownership of anything. They need disposable goods that we cannot control, or even understand. The emerging markets are ripe for that, especially since their governments discourage the idea of people owning anything. They do now want to own the slave market, why feed a slave when you can force them to come because there is no food anywhere else.

"Of course the way the rich make their money really is by selling debt, and the growth in debt in economies that have not yet been significantly penetrated by credit cards is going to make some people boatloads of money. "

and here is the real ugly secret. It is not just that these 'wealth creators" do not actually make wealth as much as they manipulate the idea of wealth. It is not just that our economy is no longer based on buying and selling of actual items with tangible value, these are true, but the real truth is that they only want someone to buy if they think they can be in a position to cheat the person, and sadly, the governments of these merging markets are selling the oligarchs cultures where life is already cheap, and people are used to that, none of this pretense of democracy.

Thankfully, said governments are wrong. While it will be ugly, I truly look forward to the day when China's porcelain mask drops, and the folks in Beijing get a reminder that the Chinese are indeed, capable of killing their mandarins. Sad part is, when that happens, the Chinese will see that Wall Street is what kept their masters in power for so long.

[Ace Acme]

83. I'm inclined to think the neocons intended to default on the debt all along

... and the Chinese were smart enough to recognize that.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

6. The revolution will not be televised.

[Ace Acme]

63. It will be video-tweeted instead. nt

[littlewolf]

7. I only go to wal mart when I have to.

for food we have several choices. farm stands, Farm Fresh, Food Lion, Roses.
clothes, not so much. would love to have someone else in town.

[underpants]

8. Walmart will spin this into employees "moving up"

They have had an aggressive ad campaign ( leading up to now) about how many people get promoted and how great their benefits are. It is on in the same spot on MSNBC in the morning when I am in the gym locker room.

[hog]

9. Cart strike

When people get to the check-out at Wal-Mart and only find a few registers open, they should leave their carts full of goods and go somewhere else to shop. If the bastards can't find it in themselves to have enough people at work to take our money, let them hire some people to put the stuff in our charts back on the shelves. Hell, why not pick a date and time and have everybody abandon their carts at the same time...Sort of a flash mob protest. It could be done on a small scale and really wreak havoc. Fuck 'em where they breathe.

[DrDan]

13. just shop elsewhere - these juvenile pranks just create more grief for the actual workers

spending your dollars elsewhere gets their attention

[Sheldon Cooper]

20. Do you honestly think that walmart will hire more people after your silly little prank?

All you will cause is a bunch of tired, overworked people to have to stick around, possibly off the clock, to put back the shit you so thoughtfully abandoned at the register. What an incredibly immature and stupid idea.

[oldbanjo]

24. If it cost them profit they will hire more help.

[tina tron]

48. Stuff like that does work and is quite effective.

[Sheldon Cooper]

49. Baloney. I worked retail grocery.

They will NOT hire more people, I can assure you. And your little cartoon graphic is for employees, not the shopping public. And employees who arrive late or call off sick will get shown the door because there are ten people desperate for work who can replace him/her today. This ain't Nicaragua.

[tina tron]

50. It does work

and the corporate oligarchs know it works.

[NuclearDem]

34. How about you just refuse to shop at Walmart?

Their profits take a hit without having to make your fellow members of the 99% suffer even more.

Or join rallies to demand Walmart allow its workers to unionize.

[Not Sure]

53. In some of the towns I visit, there are no other options

Walmart is the only store available to shop in. And in other towns where there might be other options, a 24-hour Walmart is the only place to shop off-hours. I get called to work at odd hours in places like this, so it has made me become a Walmart shopper against my will. When I'm able to work at home, I avoid Walmart.

[NuclearDem]

54. Walmart never plays fair.

Capitalists love the idea of competition but still support a company that cuts and bleeds its competition.

[wilsonbooks]

16. http://aattp.org/walmart-ceo-mike-duke-forced-to-step-down-after-nlrb-pursues-workers-rights-violati

[link:http://aattp.org/walmart-ceo-mike-duke-forced-to-step-down-after-nlrb-pursues-workers-rights-violations/|

[eridani]

17. Ah, the lovely aroma of schadenfreude in the evening! It's what's for dinner!

[madrchsod]

18. i noticed that walmart selves were empty during peak shopping times.

they have also cut back on overnight help and moving skids of merchandise during daytime hours. trip and fall over pallets in stores is the number one con in retail. it`s pretty much an automatic payout.

in my stupid town walmart is the only place i can buy pet bird food. the only redeeming feature it`s only a few steps from the check out.

[tblue37]

33. Could you stock up online? nt

[Iliyah]

19. Walmart, Target, et al.,

That's why they hate Unions. Unions protect the workers/employees from selfish greedy owners, CEOs and others who puts lining their pockets over the well being of their employees. For the past 30 years or so the GOP party have orchestrated the destruction of any group that protects the workers/employees.

The story of Ebenezer Scrooge is telling. These people who claim progressives/liberals or any others who don't think like them are the evil ones. Nope, everything they are claiming is on them, they are the ones who are scrooging but want to put the blame somewhere else all the while doing exactly what they say others are doing and of course their base is gullible.

[Contrary1]

23. $21.96 an hour = 40% more than Walmart pays?

Bullshit.

That would mean the average full-timer at Walmart earns $13.18 an hour. Must be figuring in the execs pay to come up with that number.

[oldbanjo]

25. You are correct.

[oldbanjo]

26. You are correct

[Major Nikon]

28. IBIS world says $8.18 for the average associate

As of 2 years ago.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/economy/694-is-wal-mart-worse

[Cryptoad]

27. Highly Profitable Companies

who do not realize that their employees are their most valuable assets, will pass in time!

[alp227]

31. LOL. Do Wal Mart execs even understand economics?

Maybe they know better but would rather be exploitative and deceptive.

[tblue37]

32. But greedheads are never satisfied with very good profits. They demand obscene profits.

no matter what they have to do to get them.

They relent ONLY when their profit-squeezing attempts end up reducing profits rather than enhancing them.

[Cha]

36. "Keep prices down"(that's a stretch.. I'm guessing) and CEO's

Bonuses UP!

ah ha.. and then there's the Costco business model..

"Costco, offers its employees an average wage of $21.96 an hour, about 40 percent more than Walmart employees make. Costco enjoyed a 19 percent increase in profits last quarter as Walmart sank, generating much more revenue and profit per worker. WinCo, a smaller grocery chain based in Idaho, boasts full health benefits for anyone working over 24 hours a week and retirement accounts for more than 400 workers — while maintaining prices even lower than Walmart’s."

[TheBlackAdder]

37. WalMart used to have a policy to keep checkout lines at least 3 deep. It still seems that way. n/t

[Coyotl]

43. BOYCOTT Wal*Mart! Support your local unions!

[otohara]

47. Always Low Wages

until they pay their employees decent wages, I will never shop there.

[BlueStreak]

55. Support local businesses. Support companies that pay a living wage. Support companies that ...

give back to the community.

Patronize restaurants that aren't part of big chains and that use wholesome ingredients purchased locally. They are out there. You can find them.

For the items that have to come from a "big box", choose Costco over Wal*Mart or Sam's Club. We have two Costcos in our area. Any time of the day they are open (and they have limited hours rather than beating their employees to death) their parking lot is packed. People are getting it.

In our area, Kroger grocery has a really strong commitment to fund-raising for the children's hospital. Reward businesses that act locally, even if they have distant ownership.

Our purchases make a difference. And don't be afraid to ask for the manager to thank him or her for their company's commitment to the community. A simple thank-you can be huge in changing the way people act.

[Coyotl]

78. I likee to support employee-owned businesses too.

In the NW we have WinCo Foods and Bi-Mart, both now employee owned and offering the best prices too.

[sakabatou]

51. Did they just realize this?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

61. Keeping in mind that Walmart could afford a stock buyback equivalent to a $10 raise for all workers.

[tavalon]

66. I wish I could join the massive exodus

but it's been decades since I've darkened their doors. I'll dumpster dive before I shop at Walmart. Same quality, better service.

[LongTomH]

67. K&R -- for workers' sake

[1Greensix]

69. It's time to abandon Walmart

Walmart's owners became billionaires because Americans thought saving money was more important than the quality of goods they bought there. Any thinking person certainly knows better by now. If people just stop to realize that the majority of things they buy from Walmart is totally unnecessary Crap they will have enough money to buy fewer, but Needed products, from locally owned stores. 90% of the stuff people buy for their kids for Christmas is completely unearned, unappreciated, and unused after a week. So, why buy it in the first place? Look in your garage or attic and notice all the stuff you've paid hard cash for and that was a total waste of money. Buy from ANYBODY but Walmart and let them go out of business. America got along fine before they came along and can do so again.

[awoke_in_2003]

70. "Walmart defends its poor labor practices as necessary to keep prices down"...

That is one of our collective problems- we are so obsessed with buying lots of crap for cheap, and we don't care who gets stepped on to get it.

[Ace Acme]

72. Thrift stores keep prices down too.

And there's a built-in quality control--the broken cheap stuff doesn't even make it to the shelf. If the stuff is still in good shape after being donated to the thrift store, it must have been well made in the first place.

[awoke_in_2003]

74. True

I have gotten a couple of old fountain pens from thrift stores for decent prices. I like the vintage stuff, but when you get it off of eBay most sellers have an unrealistic sense of the value. If I can pick up an old Parker 51 or a Vacumatic for $10-15, then refurbish for another $30 or so, I still come out ahead. Plus, I support a small business man who still sells inks sacs, nibs, etc.

[Vashta Nerada]

88. I was hired at Walmart this summer as a temp.

They promised me "up to 32 hours a week". I got 24 my first few weeks there. Then they gave me 32 hours/week after that, when Back to School started around mid-July. After 90 days, they asked me if I wanted to be hired permanently as a part-time associate, but I declined. I had enough.