Walmart wages

[MachineGhost]

Catching up or baked inflation?

[Jan Van]

Or hoping their own employees will be able to afford Walmart products. So they don't have to do food drives anymore...

[barrett]

My take is that Walmart has a very good idea of how much of their workers' wages goes right back into shopping at Walmart.

[Ad Orientem]

I agree in part with Barrett. But I also think it's smart from a business perspective. Jobs that pay minimum wage tend to have very high turnover rates, for obvious and very understandable reasons. The ones who stay tend to be lower quality employees. When you factor in the cost of constantly replacing employees, training new hires and all the paperwork in HR etc. it just makes sense to pay a little more to reduce the turnover and maybe keep some of the more motivated workers.

[MachineGhost]

The ripple effect is marketing fiction.  If companies really cared about what they claim they are caring about now (i.e. employee loyalty), they would have been paying $20 an hour as Costco did decades ago.   And I live in a van down by the river...

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[MachineGhost]

They're in for a surprise, because $9 an hour disqualifies you for the Medicaid expansion.  Ooops!  Bronze is a laughable deal at $50 a month in premium after tax subsidies and a ridiculous 40% coninsurance, high copays, etc..  You are better off not working.

[Kbg]

I think WM is raising wages because they know they have a serious problem with their stores part of which is a result of employees who don't really care and it is showing up in sales and bottom of the barrel customer shopping experience ratings. In short, competition.

On a personal note, I was quite surprised how much I bought on Amazon last year. Nothing intentional on my part but I found myself buying a lot beyond books. As a Prime customer you rarely pay for shipping and when that isn't a direct cost factor clicking on a website and having the merchandise show up at your door a couple of days later is WAY nicer than driving to a store.

If someone ever figures out how to effectively provide a physical experience when shopping that is sometimes needed (like trying on clothes) with the convenience of online, game over for the current retail world.

[Tyler]

I honestly have never understood the Walmart hate.  The article makes a point that it's hard to raise a family of four on a single minimum-wage salary. Well no crap. But is Walmart (the willing employer that also offers the most affortable food options in the city) really the bad guy in that situation?

I admit I'm jaded on this topic after living in the Bay Area for a while. Too often it felt like the hate is more cultural than anything else, where wealthy liberal people find a bit of joy looking down their noses not simply at the company but at the people who work and shop there. I always rolled my eyes at the young professionals who would piously sneer at Walmart wages over an overpriced coffee made by a hipster barista paid no more than a Walmart greeter.

That said, I'm glad that Walmart is raising their minimum wage. Not because it will appease the haters (it won't) but because it's good to see a corporate entity doing right by its employees.

[barrett]

I honestly have never understood the Walmart hate.  The article makes a point that it's hard to raise a family of four on a single minimum-wage salary. Well no crap. But is Walmart (the willing employer that also offers the most affordable food options in the city) really the bad guy in that situation?

Yeah, issues are usually more complicated than they initially appear.

I would say that I strongly dislike the experience of shopping at Walmart. It's actually amazing that they have so many employees worldwide because there is certainly nobody around to help find anything when I shop there. Yeah, I know, if I don't like it, why spend my money there. In part because they have driven some of the previous options in our town out of business. And I do consciously spend more on groceries and some niche items like hardware supplies because I want some of the remaining businesses to remain viable.

The way they beat their suppliers down in price is terrible but obviously that practice is widespread. One of the most staggering statistics in the now somewhat dated book "The Walmart Effect" is that they annually reduce the US rate of inflation by 15 hundredths of one percent.

That said, I'm glad that Walmart is raising their minimum wage. Not because it will appease the haters (it won't) but because it's good to see a corporate entity doing right by its employees.

I don't think they are really doing right by their employees. So many of them work split shifts so that they have to go home for several hours and then come back... or they are working for crap wages but are actually on call which makes it tough to take a second job, go to night school, or just generally have a life.

[WiseOne]

I think WM is raising wages because they know they have a serious problem with their stores part of which is a result of employees who don't really care and it is showing up in sales and bottom of the barrel customer shopping experience ratings. In short, competition.

On a personal note, I was quite surprised how much I bought on Amazon last year. Nothing intentional on my part but I found myself buying a lot beyond books. As a Prime customer you rarely pay for shipping and when that isn't a direct cost factor clicking on a website and having the merchandise show up at your door a couple of days later is WAY nicer than driving to a store.

If someone ever figures out how to effectively provide a physical experience when shopping that is sometimes needed (like trying on clothes) with the convenience of online, game over for the current retail world.

Amazon is the supplier of choice for many, and they're now expanding into groceries.  My guess is that Walmart has recognized it as a competitor, and this change is part of their response.  Also it must have been kind of embarrassing for them to proclaim their free-market principles while essentially using tax money to fund part of their payrolls.

BTW here's the answer to your question about a physical experience when shopping for clothes online:  Zappos.

Barrett - I worry about the same thing here in NYC.  I've seen way too many "mom and pop" stores in my neighborhood close due to ever-increasing rents, to be replaced by chain stores (usually Verizon).  So I also make it a point to buy from the local shops like the hardware stores packed floor to ceiling with useful stuff and you have to ask the guy behind the desk who knows exactly where everything is, and can also dispense useful advice.  In most suburbs, though, the game is over and there's nothing there except big chain stores.

[MachineGhost]

In most suburbs, though, the game is over and there's nothing there except big chain stores.

The only culture remaining in suburbia is mono-culture.  But then again, mom and pop stores could stay in the game if they had adapted, specialized, niched while selling online.  So, it's mostly their own fault for being crowded out.  I also get the impression that location, location, location mattered a hell of lot more to mom and pop stores than marketing skills ever did.  So that's their fault also.  I honestly don't understand how the vast majority of people with a passion do not bone up in the areas that are absolutely critical to their long-term success.