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338 Comments
- eastwood24, on 06/04/2009, -30/+93Meanwhile 30,000 'Mom and Pop' store employees will get laid off when their employer is forced to shut down.
- normlsparky, on 06/04/2009, -22/+65Awesome. That means 22,000 more people will live in poverty and apply for financial aid of some type during 2009.
- Rakeris, on 06/04/2009, -7/+46Actually a friend of mine worked for wal-mart and when he got fired, he made more on unemployment than he did working there...
- BorsKaegel, on 06/04/2009, -18/+54Ugh, get real. This is only for the Black Friday/Christmas rush. Afterward, they will lay 1/3 or more of those off... Also, most of the store jobs pay little more than staying on unemployment. It is good to see Wal-Mart is creating jobs, but it is on our backs through low priced to free land and little to no taxes to local/state governments in order to get them to build a store, that they can afford to do keep recklessly expanding.
- inactive, on 06/05/2009, -13/+46Oh noes! We can't have competition! That's just not in the interest of free enterprise! Government save us from the free market!
- TheInformer, on 06/05/2009, -6/+31"I believe it. I worked for them for six years as a Sales Associate and when I finally woke up and realized they are a dead-end job, I left and went on to undergraduate school. Doing MUCH better off, now."
Um, Wal-Mart entry jobs aren't meant to be life long jobs. They're meant to be stepping stones to better jobs. Query... if you went to McDonalds and flipped burgers, would you expect to be doing that your entire life? No. You do it for a short while then move on to something better, like graduate school (congrats, btw).
Why do people expect WalMart jobs to be ones that last lifetime? That's an unreasonable expectation. - mark925, on 06/05/2009, -7/+28Of course what WalMart doesn't say in that article is that they would likely be part-time jobs that give 0 benefits.
- flip2trip, on 06/05/2009, -5/+26I know of plenty of people that have made their careers at Walmart. Entry level jobs are just that, entry level. If you aspire to higher positions you can do that through Walmart. My wife's uncle started as a stock man years ago, he is now the manager of a very large super center making over a quarter-mil a year salary, and this doesn't include performance bonuses.
- xmonster, on 06/05/2009, -3/+23That's funny because I work at Wal-Mart and they just told me they are cutting jobs...
- nevetando, on 06/05/2009, -9/+27yah! 22,000 minimum wage jobs that can either be held by teenagers or require food stamps and other assistances for adults to make a living off of.
- trizzleatl, on 06/05/2009, -0/+18@kef': Unemployment here in GA pays somewhere between $200-$300/week. Where are you coming up with $31-$50?
- inactive, on 06/05/2009, -0/+17At last! The career I've been waiting for.
- TomK88, on 06/05/2009, -3/+20Agreed. Apparently everybody should have a "career" making $60,000+ a year with full benefits. The pie ain't that big folks.
- kingmanic, on 06/05/2009, -2/+18Lost: 150,000 High paying manufacturing jobs
Gained: 22,000 low paying service positions
winner: China - TomK88, on 06/05/2009, -8/+23You're right. We should allow less efficient businesses to survive just because they're run by "Mom and Pop".
I'm on a fixed budget. I want goods as cheap as possible. Wal-Mart provides that. In a capitalistic society, the best businesses survive and the others are eliminated. That's progress and that's why our standards of living are among the best in the world. - voyetra8, on 06/05/2009, -2/+17Wal Mart employees: Cost $86 MILLION a Year to California Taxpayers
In 2004, a study released the UC Berkeley Labor Center found that "reliance by Wal-Mart workers on public assistance programs in California comes at a cost to taxpayers of an estimated $86 million annually; this is comprised of $32 million in health related expenses and $54 million in other assistance."
Source: Ken Jacobs and Arindrajit Dube, "Hidden Costs of Wal-Mart Jobs" [PDF file], UC Berkeley Labor Center, August 2, 2004. - cli006, on 06/05/2009, -6/+20***** a driving force behind the American economy, ***** one of the nation's largest employers, ***** low-prices and smart consumer decisions, and especially ***** free markets.
I think you should google basic economics. - ViscidGobs, on 06/04/2009, -7/+21Where in China?
- minoss, on 06/05/2009, -3/+17@wavenger
That's an argument against government involvement, not against Wal-mart. - iceperson, on 06/05/2009, -16/+30Wow. The entitlement generation is out in full force today here on Digg...
- BillE3, on 06/05/2009, -4/+18They go shopping at Nordstrom because it gives a piano musician a job.
- sizzzzlerz, on 06/05/2009, -9/+22Just another indication we've transitioned into a McJobs economy. Low wages, no benefits, no retirement plans, no future. Nope, I can't see anything that could possibly go wrong with that.
- voyetra8, on 06/05/2009, -2/+15Fact: Federal Poverty Level Family of Four - $17,650
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001 Federal Poverty Guidelines
Fact: Average Wal-Mart Hourly Sales Employee Wages - $13,861
Source: Anthony Bianco and Wendy Zellner, "Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?" Business Week, October 6, 2003. Primary source information on 2001 wage data is from the testimony of Dr. Richard Drogin, in Dukes v. WM. - kefkaantakrist, on 06/04/2009, -7/+20I call bull. That would mean he made between $31 and $50 per week, which would mean he was working less than 7 hours per week.
Unless you are also considering he had lower payroll taxes and got more state aid - in which case your statement is disingenuous at best. - Snoogs, on 06/05/2009, -4/+16Everyone claiming Wal-Mart is great for bringing lower prices, for healthy big-business competion, should read "The Wal-Mart Effect". The first obvious problem is that while it creates new jobs, it destroys the local economy in smaller towns where they are built.
Less noticeable problems include the slow degradation of product quality, unethical B2B practices with vendors, price gouging, poor hiring/employment/benefits process, etc... you have to use your own judgment here, but there are tons of behind the scenes problems that Wal-Mart causes regularly while they offer products at lower prices. - inactive, on 06/05/2009, -9/+21The literate left strikes again. Don't like them? Don't shop there.
- inactive, on 06/04/2009, -32/+44***** Wal Mart
- ftx437, on 06/05/2009, -14/+25Hmmm 5 bucks at mom and pops or 2 at walmart..sorry mom and pops walmart wins.
- atomheartmother, on 06/05/2009, -0/+11"They treat their employees like absolute *****."
And those employees are forced to work there too, right? No? Then stfu. - Shwaavay, on 06/05/2009, -2/+13It's not one of, it's THE largest employer.
- WraTH017, on 06/05/2009, -1/+12"Welcome to Walmart. I love you!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8zNsUTWsOc - BorsKaegel, on 06/04/2009, -5/+16I believe it. I worked for them for six years as a Sales Associate and when I finally woke up and realized they are a dead-end job, I left and went on to undergraduate school. Doing MUCH better off, now.
- dumline, on 06/05/2009, -3/+14So if the poverty level is $17,650 and only ONE of the four family members works and gets $13,861, then yes you're correct.
However (assuming in your family of four two of them are parents) if two of them worked at $13,861/yr then that family of four would earn $27,722 which would put them above the poverty line. - Jackson0909, on 06/05/2009, -5/+16Are you serious? Wal-Mart is not a monopoly. Apparently in LBTS's world, Target, Publix, Safeway, Food Lion, Kroeger, Costco, and numerous other national and regional chains don't exist.
I actually despise Wal-Mart and rarely shop there, but I understand that they provide a desired service. Many low income families can't afford to pay Mom and Pop prices. - LocalDocal, on 06/05/2009, -4/+14Talking about sheeple, I honestly don't understand why it is so difficult to get through the thick heads of anti-Wal-Mart crowd
Why do you think Wal-Mart is able to take jobs away? Because they are able to outperform other retailers in business and put them out of business. Why do you think Wal-Mart is able to outperform other retailers in business? Because they offer better inventory at better price. And yes, we understand their inventory is so cheap because it comes from China. Thanks for telling us something everybody knew businesses did for at least two decades now.
Regardless of what questions rises up, though, here is the ultimate bottom line: As long as Wal-Mart remains the cheapest, people will continue to shop there. No amount of arguing about what Wal-Mart does will get them to stop. Either accept it or continue to deny the fact; it's your choice. - vortz83, on 06/05/2009, -5/+15why turn it into a politics debate? if your values are to support local community businesses then do it. if you don't care then shop at the giant.
- kinseyincanada, on 06/05/2009, -1/+11no ones forcing you to go to Wal-Mart if you want to support the local 'mom and pop' stores by all means go shop there.
- jadedsunrise, on 06/05/2009, -1/+11So you didn't read the article did you?
You would be right for the "black friday" stuff except the article states actual stores are opening, its a bit of a difference. - kefkaantakrist, on 06/04/2009, -2/+11All over China.
- Rakeris, on 06/04/2009, -13/+22Yeah it's kinda annoying really, we have two wal-marts in our town already and they where planning on building another, for what reason I cannot fathom. Other than to try to drive out as many other businesses as possible. Especially considering what a huge uproar was made when they said they where building a second one...
- JustEaton, on 06/05/2009, -5/+1422,000 more greeters, huh?
- lynx44, on 06/05/2009, -0/+9FACT: You don't have to work at Wal-Mart and it's unrealistic to have a family of four and expect to be able to support them on a minimum wage job.
- voyetra8, on 06/05/2009, -7/+16WAL-MART Costs Taxpayers $1,557,000,000.00 to Support its Employees
"The Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce estimates that one 200-person Wal-Mart store may result in a cost to federal taxpayers of $420,750 per year - about $2,103 per employee. Specifically, the low wages result in the following additional public costs being passed along to taxpayers:
$36,000 a year for free and reduced lunches for just 50 qualifying Wal-Mart families.
$42,000 a year for Section 8 housing assistance, assuming 3 percent of the store employees qualify for such assistance, at $6,700 per family.
$125,000 a year for federal tax credits and deductions for low-income families, assuming 50 employees are heads of household with a child and 50 are married with two children.
$100,000 a year for the additional Title I expenses, assuming 50 Wal-Mart families qualify with an average of 2 children.
$108,000 a year for the additional federal health care costs of moving into state children's health insurance programs (S-CHIP), assuming 30 employees with an average of two children qualify.
$9,750 a year for the additional costs for low income energy assistance."
The total figure is based on the average $420,750 per-store figure, multiplied by 3700 (the approximate number of stores currently in the United States).
Source: Rep. George Miller / Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, "Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart", February 16, 2004. - inactive, on 06/05/2009, -10/+19What kind of person would want to spend their lives on unemployment? Working for a living, even at an entry-level job, teaches you skills that you'll never obtain sucking off the state teat.
And in case you hadn't considered it -- Wal-Mart offers the jobs. People choose to take them. Isn't your problem with people who want to work for low wages? You'd rather have them being unproductive and wasting ALL of our money by being on welfare? Wha-a? - Jerrbear1, on 06/05/2009, -7/+16Don't worry eastwood, you're not alone. There are a lot of non sheeple that don't like multi-national corporations on every street corner.
A lot of people also don't realize that Wal-Mart TAKES JOBS AWAY from the US by opening factories in China.
WHY DO YOU FOOLS THINK EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP!!!!!!!! - Locnar, on 06/05/2009, -1/+10Can you see it? Yes, See the middle class deflate as the lower class inflates.. I guess they were right.. The middle class American is an endangered commodity...
- heditor, on 06/11/2009, -2/+10Yeah, they should be required to pay all those unskilled workers $50k a year and give them a ton of benefits or else we should shut them down.
Or maybe the people taking jobs at Wal-Mart should be thankful they have jobs, and should consider the ramifications of trying to raise a family of four (in your scenario) on $8.23/hour BEFORE having kids.
Wal-Mart may not be the greatest corporate citizen, but give me a break. - minoss, on 06/05/2009, -2/+10Since this is so ***** hard for you retards to understand, Wal-mart doesn't manufacture anything. There are no wal-mart owned factories in China. Wal-mart buys from suppliers. These suppliers also sell to other stores. The only advantage wal-mart has is it's delivery system and volume that minimizes costs it can use to beat competition on prices.
@catbeller
You must really hate poor people in China. I guess you would prefer them picking rice twice as long for half the pay in worse conditions? Poverty has been lowered GREATLY in china thanks to it's more open capitalistic policies. - silkheat, on 06/05/2009, -2/+10I don not like Walmart therefore I do not shop there. It really is that easy if you do not like them.
- 15charmaxwtf, on 06/05/2009, -0/+7So what if they don't buy American? If they can buy it cheaper somewhere else then consumers have more money in their pockets to spend somewhere else.
And anyway if they decided just to buy American and put up their prices some other competitor would just take their place, it is the consumer that gives them the money. -
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