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Walmart Raises Minimum Hourly Wage to $11, Expands "Scan & Go" Program

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday January 11 2018, @10:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the what's-the-catch dept.

takyon writes:

Walmart is boosting minimum pay across all of its stores and handing out bonuses. The CEO says that it's thanks to tax reform:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is boosting its starting hourly wage to $11 and delivering bonuses to employees, capitalizing on the U.S. tax overhaul to stay competitive in a tightening labor market.

The increase takes effect next month and will cost $300 million on top of wage hikes that were already planned, the world's largest retailer said Thursday. The one-time bonus of up to $1,000 is based on seniority and will amount to an additional $400 million. The company is also expanding its maternity and parental leave policy and adding an adoption benefit.

"Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.," Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said in the statement.

The move comes three years after Wal-Mart last announced it was raising wages, spending $1 billion in 2015 to lift starting hourly pay to $9 and then to $10 for most workers the following year. The increase cut into profit and was criticized by some longer-tenured employees as unfair to them. Since then, many states have enacted minimum wage laws, meaning that a "sizable group" of its 4,700 U.S. stores already pay $11 an hour, according to spokesman Kory Lundberg.

Walmart is expanding a "Scan & Go" program from 50 to 150 stores. "Scan & Go" would allow customers to use a smartphone app to scan items and then walk out of the store with them. Kroger is experimenting with a similar "Scan, Bag, Go" program. These are seen as a response to Amazon, which has been trialing delivery of fresh foods and same-day deliveries. Amazon revealed an "Amazon Go" concept brick-and-mortar store in 2016, with no cashiers in sight.

Maybe Walmart's big plan is to give better pay to a dwindling amount of employees.

CEO letter to employees. Also at CNBC and USA Today.

Related: Walmart Wants to Deliver Groceries Directly Into Your Fridge
Walmart to Deploy Shelf-Scanning Robots at 50 Stores
Walmart is Raising Prices Online to Increase in-Store Traffic

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by mendax on Thursday January 11 2018, @10:16PM (2 children)

    by mendax (2840) on Thursday January 11 2018, @10:16PM (#621139)

    It should be noted>/a> that Walmart just announced the closing a bunch of its Sam's Club stores. Coincidence? [usatoday.com]

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Thursday January 11 2018, @10:26PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday January 11 2018, @10:26PM (#621146) Journal

    Meanwhile, Costco [wikipedia.org] has been doing great, and its stock rose on that news:

    The closing Sam's Clubs make up about 10% of its total number of stores, which may surprise some investors considering the warehouse discounter's consistent growth. In both the third and second quarters, Sam's Club reported comp sales on par with that of Walmart, 2.8% and 1.2%, respectively, compared with Walmart's 2.7% and 1.8%.

    "It's been performing better, the stores look better, the operational issues they're working through, they're enhancing the supply chain, and there are things that Costco doesn't do," Telsey analyst Joe Feldman told TheStreet regarding Sam's Club in August.

    Costco, nonetheless, is seeing faster growth. Comp sales in its most recent quarterly report rose by 10.3% in the U.S., with e-commerce gaining more than 43%.

    Costco rose $3.96, or 2.1%, to $189.38 on Thursday. Walmart rose 35 cents to $100.02. Neither Costco nor Walmart could be immediately reached for comment.

    Aside: First question (right sidebar) seen on a Google search [google.com] for Costco:

    Q: Do they sell liquor.

    A: Yes

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    • (Score: 3, Informative) by SanityCheck on Friday January 12 2018, @06:19AM

      by SanityCheck (5190) on Friday January 12 2018, @06:19AM (#621285)

      #NOTALL Costcos, but I don't care since I don't drink.