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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, @11:25PM

    by Marand (1081) on Monday January 15 2018, @11:25PM (#622839) Journal

    help does not require the government.

    Except that's supposed to be part of the government's job, otherwise we wouldn't bother with government at all. I'm generally pretty cynical, so this is somewhat out-of-character to say, but I've noticed that most people are fairly well-meaning and helpful to others. However, individual helpfulness doesn't scale, which is where government comes in. That said, I don't think complete wealth redistribution (communism style) will work because, while generally helpful, people still want goals and self-improvement, which is why I think UBI is a good middle ground between that extreme and the dog-eat-dog nature of extreme, absolute capitalism. People get a base income, and anything extra they earn is based on what they contribute rather than some government-mandated minimum that pushes people to take busy-work jobs instead of finding meaningful work.

    Minimum wage and existing programs are sort of trying at the same thing as UBI, but in a way that, for the employee, encourages taking busy-work jobs because they have to have anything in a pinch, and for the employer, discourages employment and enriches the selfish assholes that find ways to employ fewer people and work the remaining ones until they drop. Successful businessmen often have sociopath tendencies, and the larger the business the more likely this seems to be, so despite most people being helpful to others, businesses can't be expected to do the right thing for society without "nudging" them in that direction. Hell, I'm still trying to get medical benefits from my full-time job because my employer does anything it can to stall; and based on how lax they are with paying bills, I doubt they'd pay their employees if they thought they could get away with it.

    Of course, this kind of topic opens up a whole other can of worms, because it leads into discussing issues with the government itself. There's plenty that can be said about the US government's failure to represent the interests of the citizens in favour of big business, government bloat, and any number of other topics, because it's all linked in some way. That's why I try to avoid political discussions, it's too easy to get caught up in them and never get anything else done. :P

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