Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There is so much hypocrisy with the Wal-Mart controversy that it makes me sick. So many people who jump onto the podium to criticize the evils of Wal-Mart seem to have no qualms against shopping at Target or any other big discount stores in their area.
Here we have Fred Meyers where people are quick to jump to their defense because it is "at least a local" chain. BS!!! It used to be a local chain until they sold to Krogers years ago. Their prices are considerably higher, though their shelves are full of products from China; however, back in the 90's they broke their union and since then they hire only part-time to avoid health benefits. Then they sold to Kroger's.
Now, I have had the opposite experience from the poster right above me. While I've not always found what I was after at Wal-Mart, there have been MORE times when I had to go there to find what I couldn't find anywhere else. One time I wanted a pack of simple Thank You cards. Popped into Target, Rite-Aid, and Hallmark ~ none of which had them on stock. Had to go extra miles to Wal-Mart for them.
I don't know of any Wal-Marts here that are open 24-hrs.
In my case, the evil which you speak of is our current set of laws that enable such grossly destructive companies to exist. If it's Wal-Mart, which is an easy target due to being the 27th richest country in the world (if it were a country) and the 2nd largest army (over 2 million) behind China (if it were an army), but again it's not Wal-Mart's fault. By design, our corporate laws prevent Wal-Mart from being anything other than money grabbing machines that devour everything in their sights. This is what they legally have to do in order to be compliant with the law. These laws are grossly miscalculated, but were intended to protect shareholder's interests.. You can google American Corporate Laws if you choose to read up on it. Sadly, it's going to take legislation before places like Wal-Mart, Target, Rite-Aid, etc etc stop destroying us... And, that's not really ever going to be more that a pipe dream because, us the public, don't have the funds to compete politically with a Wal-Mart, who's GDP is larger that Argentina's.
Why any one would support mom and pop stores is beyond me. They don't give their employees any better pay or benefits than the larger corporate entities. They certainly give them no advancement opportunities either and lets not even talk about pension or medical insurance.
Some Mom and Pops did pay better than what Walmart was paying, but even that is not the issue with me.
That money the Mom and Pops received was recirculated back into the surrounding communities, not sent to the Cayman Islands or China.
To me it is about Economic Power being disbursed around the nation in many hands rather than concentrated in a few hands like the Waltons, on Wall Street or in China.
Funny how some have a problem with the concentration of power in Washington but the concentration of Economic Power is ok?
Not so. Sears, Penney's and Ward's were Walmart's predecessors. They put many Mom and Pops out of business. The big grocery conglomerates, e.g. Kroger's, Safeway, Albertson's and their affiliated stores put out the Mom and Pop grocers.
The difference is that Sears, Penny's and Wards in that era were stocking American Made Goods so the flow of money kept recirculating between workers, consumers and business owners.
Now it all goes off to China, Shareholders and the Waltons.
It all started with "Free Trade Agreements" brought to you by corporate and banking lobbyists.
Bill Clinton signed into law the Free Trade Agreements and guess who was on the Walmart Board of Directors as well? His wife Hillary.
This is not an attack against Democrats but against Neo Global Fascists of which exist in Washington on both parties. They are pretty much the enemy of this country.
I buy 1 item I can't find anywhere at Walmart. And I make my husband go in cuz I hate the place. I did shop there in NY state, some stuff--was much more inexpensive than the competition, but I felt like I should have dressed in black when I went in and went to confession after I left. Hate the place.
The difference is that Sears, Penny's and Wards in that era were stocking American Made Goods so the flow of money kept recirculating between workers, consumers and business owners.
Now it all goes off to China, Shareholders and the Waltons.
It all started with "Free Trade Agreements" brought to you by corporate and banking lobbyists.
Bill Clinton signed into law the Free Trade Agreements and guess who was on the Walmart Board of Directors as well? His wife Hillary.
This is not an attack against Democrats but against Neo Global Fascists of which exist in Washington on both parties. They are pretty much the enemy of this country.
The old "that's different" argument. In the present era, Sears and Penney's sell mostly foreign made goods as well. Wards is no longer with us. Marketing has changed. I don't think things were all that great in bygone times, either. Remember the Depression? Since WW II, there have been more foreign made goods. When I was a kid, my parents used to complain about stuff made in Japan. Then it was Korea, Taiwan, and now China.
Remember the Depression? Since WW II, there have been more foreign made goods. When I was a kid, my parents used to complain about stuff made in Japan. Then it was Korea, Taiwan, and now China.
Yes, imagine that, people complaining about destructive economic policies in the past and here we are again, just so the investors and heads of corporations and banks can pad their portfolios, who incidentally own our government.
I work for Walmart and I think they start out too low on wages. However, the raises come regularly and if they stick it out it'll get better. I just got my 5th raise in 4 years. We have a lot of full timers and a lot of part timers. The part timers are mostly by choice, as I am. I'm 'old', I don't WANT to work 40 hours anymore and there are a lot just like me at my store. One reason for so many part time jobs isn't because they don't want to give them benefits, etc. but because they DO want to see as many people working as possible and no store needs 300-400 full time employees. My store alone is the biggest employer in the area. Then Home Depot. Part timers at Walmart have nearly as many bennies as full timers. In some cases it takes a bit longer to kick in but everybody who works for the company is eligible...IF they choose to take them.
Walmart CAN be a career type job. I see it at my store all the time. We have people who have gone from cashier, to CSM, to asst. dept. mgr. to dept. mgr. in four years. They can then go to zone mgr.. I think it depends on how much they want that type of career. I could be a mgr. by now if that's what I wanted. I am not interested. I've done my 'gig' in management over the years and now I just want to go do my job and go home.
You'd be amazed at the training Walmart actually gives their employees. We are constantly training, reviewing, renewing and being 'certified' for all types of things. Even us 'lowly cashiers'. Our managers have risen through the ranks over the years and I consider years of experience as good as book learning. Our last manager, who was with our store for over ten years, had a business degree. He has transferred to another store now with a big promotion and we have a new one. She has been with THIS store for 20 years and she's darn good. For some reason Walmart seems to usually bring new managers in rather than promote from within but this time they did and it was a good decision.
I've seen someone go from cashier to dept. mgr in a lot less than 4 years, but that was someone who was a store manager at Wal-Mart, Guatemala, before it became Wal-Mart! A store manager, with a BA in Business Mgmt! And when he got to Dept. Mgr, he hit a glass ceiling, and they wouldn't promote him further. And yes, they did bring new managers in from around the country, rather than use local talent.
It sounds like the Wal-Mart in your area is managed differently than the Wal-Marts in NM. There were no jobs advertised as part-time at my local Wal-Mart/s. All were advertised as full-time, then when the company stock dipped in value, everyone's hours were cut back to, say, 36 hrs./wk, or 32 hrs./wk, as needed. When the stock value recovered, people were returned to full-time, but some had quit by that time. Wal-Mart has a reputation for doing that (at least, where I live) so they have a hard time replacing the people who quit. They've resorted to re-hiring people they've fired in the past, just to fill those cashier slots.
And this is all to say nothing of the illegals they hire at night to stock shelves. They have no idea how to go about their work, and get no guidance. The English-speaking dept. managers aren't able to communicate with them, anyway.
It would be great if all the Wal-Marts were reorganized and run the way you describe.
Some Mom and Pops did pay better than what Walmart was paying, but even that is not the issue with me.
That money the Mom and Pops received was recirculated back into the surrounding communities, not sent to the Cayman Islands or China.
To me it is about Economic Power being disbursed around the nation in many hands rather than concentrated in a few hands like the Waltons, on Wall Street or in China.
Funny how some have a problem with the concentration of power in Washington but the concentration of Economic Power is ok?
I don't doubt that some Mom and Pops did/do pay better than Walmart, but I have never seen any evidence that most or even many did so.
The money that Walmart pays its employees is also recirculated back into the community. How do you know that "Mom and Pop" didn't have a secret account in the Caymans or Switzerland?
So how long does it take for a part time employee at walmart to get hired on to full time status, without wanting to be in management?
It just depends on how many hours are available in the store. They just hired a boatload of cashiers but I don't know what their status is. Most are very young, right out of high school, so I'm assuming they are part time. They start at $8.40 hour. But part time can be anything from 28-32 hours. Or, for people who choose to, it can be less. I know a few who only work 15-20 hours per week. I personally am going to cut my hours to 28 very soon. I want three days off and with my raise my income will stay the same. I'm 'okay' financially and I don't want to drop dead at my register so I'm going to work what I want. I'm also changing my availability from 7 AM-9 PM to 7-7. I'm glad they let us do that. Also, my mom needs me a lot more now than before so it's partly because of that.
I know...long answer to a short and to the point question. Sorry...
Sorry, but not in my experience. Most of them apply at Walmart because they have no other good options. No special skills or training and often very few other businesses hiring in the area. Certainly not because of higher wages, they are the lowest paid workers around, even fast food pays as much or better in many cases. Their scheduling practices suck (two four hour shifts at opposite ends of the day is pretty darn disruptive to a 'better life') and a lot of their employees don't qualify for benefits, and couldn't afford them even if they did. Mom and pop places don't have to keep you at a ridiculous low amount of hours in order to keep you from qualifying for benefits either.
I live in a fairly small town that mostly caters to tourists, etc.. We have TONS of employment options in that area and I have never had a problem finding a job...if I wanted one. Walmart hires a lot of very good experienced people. Experienced in many different fields. Especially the older ones. They don't hire dunderheads and if they do they get rid of them. Walmart and Home Depot start all their employees at the same wage but I don't know what HD's policy is on raises etc.. I'm satisfied with Walmart's though. Fast food here does not pay more than Walmart. They also start at the same wage as WM and HD. It seems like $8 an hour is the average starting wage here. Take it or leave it.
Our schedules DO "suck" sometimes. I don't like having a different schedule every day but you get used to it. Nobody in our store works split shifts like you describe. And they don't keep people on low hours to avoid paying benefits either. Every.single.person who works for Walmart IS eligible for benefits no matter how many/few hours you work. Well, anyone with less that 20 may not be, I'm not sure. BUT people who work that few hours do it by CHOICE, not because that's what Walmart says. I work 32 hours and I'm eligible for all of it. It DOES take a bit longer for some bennies with part timers, like no vacation pay till you've been there two years. But insurance and all that...they can have it. It's THEIR choice and it's not that expensive. About $140 mo. for a single person.
I wish people would get the real skinny on what Walmart does and doesn't do for their employees. They might be very surprised. I was! I always swore I would NEVER work for them and now I'm kicking my butt for not starting years earlier. I said that because *I* listened to and believed all the negative hype, just like too many people do. I would have had a pretty healthy 401k by now plus stock options, if I wanted them. Quite a few of our employees have been there from 10-25 years and have taken advantage of all Walmart offers. They'll retire nicely. I have a cousin who works for Walmart and one has been with them for 40 years, since college. And there are many many more across the country who've been with them that long. My cousin is retiring a happy woman.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
