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

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: 2) by Marand on Monday January 15 2018, @12:12AM (1 child)

    by Marand (1081) on Monday January 15 2018, @12:12AM (#622332) Journal

    "Tone trolling"? No, I was trying to politely tell you that you're being a jackass while contributing nothing, and in the process making him look good in comparison. It seems like the majority of what I see you post on SN is combative and insulting, and doubling down on it by insulting me over mentioning it doesn't really help make you look like less of a jackass.

    I believe arguments should be civil rather than devolve into name-calling shouting matches, because once it turns into a flamewar it's all noise and no signal. Arguing with someone almost never changes their opinion, but IMO the real point of debating something contentious is the audience to the argument. Being reasonable and making good points does a much better job of convincing others of your point — or at the least, not pushing them to the opposite side — than being an asshole.

    Anyway, I figured I'd try saying, basically, "calm the fuck down" (but not as rudely) in case you're just letting emotions get in the way of reason, but I guess it's more of a vendetta against him, since you know he's most likely not going to ban you no matter what you say so you can get away with it. In that case, it's between you and him and I don't particularly care beyond annoyance at having to read or scroll through the bullshit to look for useful discussion, but that's easily fixed by giving you a negative karma bonus so your comments are collapsed by default. (Don't take that the wrong way, it's nothing personal, I just mark a few people 'enemy' so their replies to people start collapsed because their posts feel like I'm wasting time reading them, and your perpetual flamewar with TMB is a waste of time to me.)

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 15 2018, @03:21AM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday January 15 2018, @03:21AM (#622395) Journal

    Marand, listen...I've been here almost since the site's inception. I've come to accept the fact that 1) there are around half a dozen truly diseased, evil people on here, 2) Uzzard's one of them, and 3) unfortunately for us he's one of the staff.

    After the last year-plus of political horror, I made a promise to myself: no more bargaining with terrorists. Because that's what shitheads like him and J-Mo and Runaway basically are: memetic terrorists. They are every bit as fanatical about their beliefs as a Muslim suicide bomber with a dynamite corset, though far less willing to put life and limb on the line for them. But they're exactly as beyond reason and faith-motivated; it just so happens their main article of faith is "Fuck you, got mine (and even if I don't I'd rather we both die than see you get something I don't think you deserve") rather than "There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet."

    I know you don't want to face this. I don't either. But some people are beyond redemption, through a specific and consciously-made choice, and NOTHING is going to change them short of horrible personal suffering. And even then, that's not a given.

    They see civility, compromise, and stopping to think as weaknesses, do you understand that? They look at people like you and me with contempt at best, and at worst, believe we do not deserve to live. They game the system. They demand their opponents not step over certain lines while making it a point not only to cross them themselves, but to laugh about it and pat themselves on the back for it, for not being stupid sheep who play by the rules.

    There are a lot more sociopaths out there than you want to acknowledge, and they've reached a critical mass in this country, both in terms of population and in terms of reach. And I am done trying to reach them. If they will not abide by basic human decency, I will not treat them as humans any longer, but rather the dangerous animals they pretend themselves to be.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...