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This happened when Walmart raised their min. wage too. The people that worked their way from $9 to $12/hr were pissed that people could come in starting at $11/hr after all the time they spent getting to that wage.
This happened when Walmart raised their min. wage too. The people that worked their way from $9 to $12/hr were pissed that people could come in starting at $11/hr after all the time they spent getting to that wage.
You are so right about that. I just quit Walmart, after 8 years, in July. Not because of that but I wasn't happy when the 'newbies' were starting at what it took me 7 years to get. And all we got was our annual 2% raise. My daughter started there a year ago at $11 hour, plus $1 for working overnights, and will soon get a raise.
Ever since Walmart raised their minimum wage they've been 'redoing' a LOT in the stores. For one automation is taking over. They now have 'robots' that do inventory control, scanning the shelves and letting the back room know what needs to be restocked, etc.. Also have robotic floor cleaners that takes away a maintenance job. And then there are the self checkouts and they have their pros and cons. Still need people to monitor those and they DID hire a bunch of new people just for that. I was a trainer and did the training for new cashiers and self checkout hosts. Walmart has eliminated quite a few positions and merged others. Dept. managers now have multiple departments to manage and few employees to do the work. They will soon be eliminating the in store HR and training coordinators. They have already eliminated the cash office and front end managers are doing that. If the people holding these jobs are long time employees...and there are a LOT who've been there 20 years or more...they can either go to another position or leave. If they leave they are paid one weeks wages for each year worked. Those people have already capped out on wages so their severance will be pretty good. Walmart also started cutting hours along with their wage raise. That sure helps the employees!! Even long time employees are only getting 16 hours a week in many cases. Fat lot of good raises do anyone there. I'm glad I left and I doubt I'll ever regret it. I have a new job paying me the same as I made when I left Walmart and better raises on the horizon. I don't know what ivory tower those people in the home office live in but it's not exactly connected to reality. If people think customer service is bad now...well, I don't see it improving in the near future.
One more thing that REALLY irritates me about Walmart is that they pay by job position and not by what a person is making when they change positions. In other words if I went from, say, electronics or sporting goods which is one pay scale, to being a front end cashier, I would give up my pay and take a cut because being a cashier doesn't pay as much. Why can't they keep the wage they are making? I just don't get that, at all.
You are so right about that. I just quit Walmart, after 8 years, in July. Not because of that but I wasn't happy when the 'newbies' were starting at what it took me 7 years to get. And all we got was our annual 2% raise. My daughter started there a year ago at $11 hour, plus $1 for working overnights, and will soon get a raise.
You got your feelings hurt. Walmart decided to give everybody a better wage, you were probably still making as much or not more than them. You harbor a resentment against "newcomers" when you should blame Walmart for not giving you a better deal all along. Same for your daughter. She can work there as long as she likes it or as long as she doesn't find a better job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AZDesertBrat
Ever since Walmart raised their minimum wage they've been 'redoing' a LOT in the stores. For one automation is taking over. They now have 'robots' that do inventory control, scanning the shelves and letting the back room know what needs to be restocked, etc.. Also have robotic floor cleaners that takes away a maintenance job. And then there are the self checkouts and they have their pros and cons. Still need people to monitor those and they DID hire a bunch of new people just for that.
That's exactly what I have been predicting ever since the $15/hour movement started. They might as well have made it $100/hour, and then you can see why that won't work. But let's stick with the $15/hour which is at least not totally insane. My prediction applied to McDonald's where I predicted automated fry machines, automated hamburger flippers, eventually hamburger assemblers. They can't afford to pay very many people $15/hour so they have to let some go and replace them with robots.
Same at Walmart, and I really like the self-checkout. They have people waiting in a few checkout lanes, and have 10-12 self-scanners and one employee helping and eyeing customers. My choice is to wait perhaps 20 minutes to have a human being start scanning my purchase... Or I can just scan my swag myself and zero waiting. I bring reusable bags so I don't have to pay them for plastic bags. I can GTFO in record speed... and I deprived a few used-to-be checkout clerks of their jobs. Or got somebody's hours cut because I voluntarily did their job myself, for free!
In the case of McDonald's I predict their happy meals won't be quite as happy when the customers start paying the new prices. BTW I predict the demise of McDonald's cashiers as they move towards having customers push buttons to place their order, and then pay by CC, debit, cash acceptor, or any kind of e-pay. The $15/hour is inflationary, and when prices rise the $15/hour will vanish and people will still be getting paid what they used to get paid. It's just bigger numbers that are worth less. It's a good thing we are adding jobs to the economy elsewhere.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AZDesertBrat
One more thing that REALLY irritates me about Walmart is that they pay by job position and not by what a person is making when they change positions. In other words if I went from, say, electronics or sporting goods which is one pay scale, to being a front end cashier, I would give up my pay and take a cut because being a cashier doesn't pay as much. Why can't they keep the wage they are making? I just don't get that, at all.
You evidently do not understand a free market economy. Why would you think you have some entitlement to always make more money each successive job? You can think of a job as a commodity. If you were working in perhaps electronics that job would be worth maybe $16/hour for average experience in whatever job. Perhaps in the same area sales clerks get paid $15/hour for average experience, yada, yada. If you moved to that job why would you think you're worth more than the other clerks? Does your electronic experience make you a better clerk?
You only get to take your previous experience with you if you stay in the same line of work. And worse, wages don't always go up, even for e.g. engineers. Sometimes you're unemployed. Sometimes you can only find cheaper work. Sometimes you get the choice, keep your job at a lower wage or you go in the layoff. The company I used to work for is now down to a couple dozen employees compared to maybe almost 200, and those who have jobs are working only 3 days a week (and not getting paid for the other days).
Getting back to Amazon, Jeff Bezos founded it and is CEO and has tons of stock. He bought the Washington Post, I guess to have a toy. (He owns it now through a holding corporation.) And I think it's no secret that the Washington Post is a liberal paper, and it should come as no shock that Bezos himself is a liberal. And guess what? The $15/hour thing is a liberal cause. Nobody should have been surprised when Bezos decided everybody should get $15/hour.
You got your feelings hurt. Walmart decided to give everybody a better wage, you were probably still making as much or not more than them. You harbor a resentment against "newcomers" when you should blame Walmart for not giving you a better deal all along. Same for your daughter. She can work there as long as she likes it or as long as she doesn't find a better job.
That's exactly what I have been predicting ever since the $15/hour movement started. They might as well have made it $100/hour, and then you can see why that won't work. But let's stick with the $15/hour which is at least not totally insane. My prediction applied to McDonald's where I predicted automated fry machines, automated hamburger flippers, eventually hamburger assemblers. They can't afford to pay very many people $15/hour so they have to let some go and replace them with robots.
Same at Walmart, and I really like the self-checkout. They have people waiting in a few checkout lanes, and have 10-12 self-scanners and one employee helping and eyeing customers. My choice is to wait perhaps 20 minutes to have a human being start scanning my purchase... Or I can just scan my swag myself and zero waiting. I bring reusable bags so I don't have to pay them for plastic bags. I can GTFO in record speed... and I deprived a few used-to-be checkout clerks of their jobs. Or got somebody's hours cut because I voluntarily did their job myself, for free!
In the case of McDonald's I predict their happy meals won't be quite as happy when the customers start paying the new prices. BTW I predict the demise of McDonald's cashiers as they move towards having customers push buttons to place their order, and then pay by CC, debit, cash acceptor, or any kind of e-pay. The $15/hour is inflationary, and when prices rise the $15/hour will vanish and people will still be getting paid what they used to get paid. It's just bigger numbers that are worth less. It's a good thing we are adding jobs to the economy elsewhere.
You evidently do not understand a free market economy. Why would you think you have some entitlement to always make more money each successive job? You can think of a job as a commodity. If you were working in perhaps electronics that job would be worth maybe $16/hour for average experience in whatever job. Perhaps in the same area sales clerks get paid $15/hour for average experience, yada, yada. If you moved to that job why would you think you're worth more than the other clerks? Does your electronic experience make you a better clerk?
You only get to take your previous experience with you if you stay in the same line of work. And worse, wages don't always go up, even for e.g. engineers. Sometimes you're unemployed. Sometimes you can only find cheaper work. Sometimes you get the choice, keep your job at a lower wage or you go in the layoff. The company I used to work for is now down to a couple dozen employees compared to maybe almost 200, and those who have jobs are working only 3 days a week (and not getting paid for the other days).
Getting back to Amazon, Jeff Bezos founded it and is CEO and has tons of stock. He bought the Washington Post, I guess to have a toy. (He owns it now through a holding corporation.) And I think it's no secret that the Washington Post is a liberal paper, and it should come as no shock that Bezos himself is a liberal. And guess what? The $15/hour thing is a liberal cause. Nobody should have been surprised when Bezos decided everybody should get $15/hour.
You do know automation was going to happen no matter what the wage was wither it was $7 or $15 because you do not have to pay a machine and machines do not need breaks or vacations. Walmart makes over a $400 billion dollars a year in revenue and you are telling me that they can not afford better wages for their lowest page employees? Paying your employees better also reduces turnover costs and puts more money in the hands of people who will probably put some of it back into the store. You do realize that prices do not go up the same amount as wages do that is not have it works? In fact prices have been going up without a increase in any wages.For example in 1981 the min wage went up to $3.35 and the inflation rate went down 3% to 10%.
You do know automation was going to happen no matter what the wage was wither it was $7 or $15 because you do not have to pay a machine and machines do not need breaks or vacations. Walmart makes over a $400 billion dollars a year in revenue and you are telling me that they can not afford better wages for their lowest page employees? Paying your employees better also reduces turnover costs and puts more money in the hands of people who will probably put some of it back into the store. You do realize that prices do not go up the same amount as wages do that is not have it works? In fact prices have been going up without a increase in any wages.For example in 1981 the min wage went up to $3.35 and the inflation rate went down 3% to 10%.
I expected all that at least 10 years ago. I could see that wage demands if satisfied would result in fewer jobs and more automation, and also higher retail prices.
I'm just glad I'm not a minimum wage earner. The new $15/hour wage won't change a thing except more automation and fewer jobs in that business.
Fortunately new businesses are creating new jobs, and businesses in other sectors are also creating jobs. Unemployment is headed down, total jobs is at an all time record high level.
I would love to hear it. I follow Amazon like a cat tracking a nearby mouse. — I even interviewed several of the employees at WFM a couple months after they were acquired. My finding was about 50/50 for/against the takeover. About 1-2 years ago I polled WFM employees and they were 100% positive about their jobs when WFM was a separate entity. (I think there was some disturbance in the market industry at the time, affecting other grocers but not WFM. I think it had something to do with unions, and WFM wasn't unionized.)
That was my thought too, de-incentivizing their most innovative and highest performing staffers, the geese who lay the golden eggs.
I'm a bit more kind in my opinion of Bezos, but he is certainly making some dumb decisions. The current topic is IMO one of the dumb decisions.
Obviously this move benefits the young (lower wage earners) and at least maybe they will be less inclined to change jobs.
I think it's the high earning employees who will be hurt, and often low wage earners spend their money unwisely. They may prefer to take the cash instead of the incentives.
Amazon (or any employer) does not like having to hire replacements. At this skill level you learn on the job, and you're not productive enough to carry your water until a few or several months.
I worry about high performer flight. Innovation is Amazon's middle name (tapping revenue streams is their last name), and I hope the high performers stay.
IMO the play was PR. It's well known Bezos is a liberal. I think this whole thing is for the benefit of the public, PR, kissing up to liberals.
Of course any business org chart resembles a pyramid. This move is Bezos ensuring that the pyramid's foundation is solid, and as I said earlier, kissing up to PR and to liberals.
It appears to me that $15/hour is the coming thing, and most or all businesses will adopt this new standard. I'll laugh when McDonald's replaces their hamburger flippers with robots, and starts charging $10 for a Big Mac.
No one will eat at mcdonalds then, mcdonalds is not immune from market forces. Also I get a laugh out of the ignorance of the arrogant business class who thinks its cheap and easy to just slap in a "robot" to replace workers. Are you a CS or EE major?
How easy is it to just slap in a robot. Its really just condesending tripe when people say this stuff.
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My choice is to wait perhaps 20 minutes to have a human being start scanning my purchase... Or I can just scan my swag myself and zero waiting. I bring reusable bags so I don't have to pay them for plastic bags. I can GTFO in record speed... and I deprived a few used-to-be checkout clerks of their jobs. Or got somebody's hours cut because I voluntarily did their job myself, for free!
