Do you support higher wages for Walmart employees?

[cchoc]

If we are successful in raising the wage and expectations, and in turn attract and maintain a more productive workforce... what happens to all the crappy employees we displace? The have to end up womewhere making minimum wage and doing a crappy job there too. And what about all the learning disabled, and other special circumstance employees - can't cut it with the new expecations? now what? When I do run into Walmart to pick up things I accept the level of service and appreciate that they are providing an opportunity to folks that might otherwise be unemployed.

I'm not talking about special needs programs. As I have stated before, crappy wages = crappy employees. Higher wages can motivate some to become better employees. Look at Costco vs WalMart. Both sell similar products to a similar audience; Costco employees are higher paid yet their labor costs are lower that WalMart because their employees are more productive. Lower wages do not necessarily translate to lower payroll cost since you end up needing more people to do the same amount of work.

I respect your right to an opinion but I don't need to agree with it.

[Scott P]

Higher wages attract better employees

This can be true (along the same lines double moo), but as pointed out, places like Walmart provide jobs to people who might not otherwise be able to get one somewhere else. I used the example of my brother who is unable to read or write, which prevents him from higher end jobs. Also, what about teenagers with no experience? Where are they supposed to work if all the places only want better employees.

If Walmart and McDonalds raise the standards of who can work there and also raise the wages significantly in order to replace all these people for better workers, what about the ones displaces?

I do agree however that employers should try to pay their employees fairly. Many companies don't do this.

If you choose to believe that folks are poor because they are lazy, fine.

Some are, but there is no shame in working for a low wage as long as you do your best at it. How many of us here started out at or near minimum wage? I know I did and I would bet many of us (perhaps even most of us) also have as well.

If I was in charge of hiring all the high end employees at a company, personally I'd be more impressed with an applicant who started out and the bottom and worked his or her way up than I would with a fresh graduate who's well off parent's put him or her through school.

No one should really expect to start out at the top. Even at Walmart or McDonalds you can still work your way up and if not at hopefully least gain enough work experience to eventually go somewhere else, at least for many of us. For people like my brother, who can't read or write, he'll probably be stuck at Walmart for the rest of his life. At least he's working though. As far as I know he tries at his job. He's been there for several years and makes quite a bit more than minimum wage now. A lot of people who have more means and can read or write still don't have jobs or feel that working at a place like Walmart is somehow beneath them.

[cchoc]

A lot of people who have more means and can read or write still don't have jobs or feel that working at a place like Walmart is somehow beneath them.

And that is sad, and I think partly because most people aren't aware or won't accept their limitations in capability and experience. A little humility goes a long way towards coping with ones' lot in life. Way more than 50% of the people think they are above average.

As long as the minimum wage isn't a livable wage people with those jobs will need public assistance to get by. Companies like Wal Mart know that and are using our tax dollars to subsidize their profits.

[Byron]

As long as the minimum wage isn't a livable wage people with those jobs will need public assistance to get by. Companies like Wal Mart know that and are using our tax dollars to subsidize their profits.

True and not true...minimum wage is above the poverty line. In order to secure a welfare check, one working the job must also have children...and be virtually the sole source of income. Which begs to question...a single mom working at min. wage with one child has it raised to $15 so it's "livable", right?

What about the single mom with 3 kids, Is $15 enough, or should it be bumped up by...say $5 per child? Would that make people "like you" happy? What do ya suggest?

[cchoc]

Many low income workers get food stamps. Single mothers with children can get government aid. Companies use low wages to boost profits knowing tax dollars subsidize their employees. I guess it's just a matter of social conscience, some folks have one, some folks don't.

[Byron]

So you're insinuating that those who support the min. wage as it is don't have social conscience? C'mon man...can't ya do better than that? Tell you what...show me pictures of people starving to death in this country, then perhaps I'll acknowledge that there's a problem.

[cchoc]

So you're insinuating that those who support the min. wage as it is don't have social conscience? C'mon man...can't ya do better than that? Tell you what...show me pictures of people starving to death in this country, then perhaps I'll acknowledge that there's a problem.

Seriously? You need someone to starve before you get concerned? And I was actually talking about a company's management's social conscience, I thought that was pretty obvious.

But then I'm sure you know there are people going to bed hungry every night in this country who have full time jobs, it just doesn't concern you and I'm not asking you to care. This thread topic is whether or not people support a higher minimum wage; I do you don't - I think that has been established.

[Byron]

OK sport...I'll give it to ya. I won't be satisfied until I see their bloated corpses rotting in the gutter. F**k 'em and feed 'em rice. We should cut the min. wage so that'll help cull the weak and uneducated leaches from society...so it seems we have irreconcilable differences in this regard, eh? Perhaps you should travel to Congress and talk some sense into those people...while you're at it, cruise over to New York and pay Paul Krugman a visit...maybe convince him to fly over to Greece to put all his genius to work.

[cchoc]

Drop the minimum wage, get rid of child labor laws, lose OSHA and the EPA and the rest of the pesky regulations that hurt our industries, then we can get those jobs back from overseas and make this country great again. I think my congressman already wants to do those things anyway, although I will be in DC next month so I can double check.

[Scott P]

Drop the minimum wage, get rid of child labor laws, lose OSHA and the EPA and the rest of the pesky regulations that hurt our industries, then we can get those jobs back from overseas and make this country great again.

Really? Have you ever been to a country that doesn't have (or has little of) safety regulations, environmental regulations, or child labor laws? I have. Trust me, it's not pleasant.

Just living and breathing one day in Mumbia India, for example is equivalent to smoking more than 100 cigarettes.

In some places in Africa, I've seen nine year old kids working for industries injured on a trail carrying loads heavier than they are up steep paths.

The safety record in coal mines in places like China is deplorable with thousands killed a year due to unsafe practices.

As much as people hate government regulations in the workforce, trust me, many of them are needed. If you disagree, I'd invite you to visit much of the rest of the world or even look at our own history and what would happen in the workforce in this country 100 years ago.

PS, this country is still great. It has its problems, but trust me, compared to much of the world we have it really good.

[cchoc]

I've been to many places like that around the world; I was just reciting the tea party mantra with tongue firmly in cheek and figured the smiley was implied, sorry.

The reason US companies moved their jobs to those countries is because they don't have all the 'pesky' regulations we do. Now we just have illegal sweatshops here, the legal ones have all shut down and the jobs moved to legal sweatshops in other countries. Many people here in the US would like to roll back the clock to the 'good old days', me not so much.

And there is not enough 'stuff' in the world for everyone to have it as good as we do. Our lifestyle depends on someone getting exploited downstream.

[2065toyota]

I'm just saying that if you pay a crappy wage you will have crappy employees, period. Should an American company feel responsible to pay its employees a living wage? Not the way our economy works, no; companies are responsible only to their profits and, if public, their shareholders. It's the American way these days, and it makes me money on my investments, but I can't help being a bit conflicted when full time employees at a lot of places need food stamps. If it wasn't for the minimum wage Wal Mart and McDonalds, etc. employees wouldn't make as much as they do now.

Higher pay does not make a better employee. A better employee is a better employee because of who they are as a person and as an employee. That is why better employees will always get paid more money because they are getting paid what they are worth. Higher wages have to be earned and are granted upon performance. The theory or paying more so you can get an employee to accomplish more is part of the screwed Liberal agenda of this nation. If I have to pay you more so that you'll do a better job working for me, then I will just find someone to replace you that will do a better job for less money that is self motivated. Once they actually become a valuable asset to the company, then the wages will increase to compensate them for their value to the company.

[2065toyota]

BTW

My wife, her brother, her sister in law, her brother in law, 3 of my employees parents, all work at Walmart. I don't think any of them make less than $18/hour plus full insurance, dental, 401k, etc

Not sure why the backlash against Walmart when it employees 2.2 million people.

Just raising their overall wage by a measly $1.00 per hour per employee would cost them. 8 hour/day x 21 days/month = 168 hours
168 hours x 2.2 million employees x $1 = $369,900,000 per month

[cchoc]

Higher pay does not make a better employee. A better employee is a better employee because of who they are as a person and as an employee. That is why better employees will always get paid more money because they are getting paid what they are worth. Higher wages have to be earned and are granted upon performance. The theory or paying more so you can get an employee to accomplish more is part of the screwed Liberal agenda of this nation. If I have to pay you more so that you'll do a better job working for me, then I will just find someone to replace you that will do a better job for less money that is self motivated. Once they actually become a valuable asset to the company, then the wages will increase to compensate them for their value to the company.

How many examples do you have of that happening at Wal Mart or Mc D's? Crappy starting salaries with little chance for raises will generate crappy employees. Full time employees at places like that need food stamps to feed their families, which you are paying for. If you are happy subsidizing profits and CEO salaries, good for you. I have no problem with an increase in the minimum wage no matter what you label it.

[2065toyota]

Starting salaries for starting employees. What a novel idea.

Walmart has guaranteed raises if you pass a performance review. Wow, another novel idea.

Plenty of room for advancement Every store and distribution center has tons of managers.

No. I don't think everyone should get a trophy just for participating. Be a better employee and you will be paid better. If the job at walmart or anywhere else doesn't pay enough then get off your butt and find a different one

Oh yeah. We are in a recession and there aren't jobs available. BS. I placed an ad for my last position we hired a few months back. 34 people applied. Only 2 were actually looking for a job, the rest were just fulfilling unemployment requirements. I ended up relocating an individual from Seattle. There are plenty of jobs, not plenty of workers.

The entire system and culture is screwed up. Businesses small and big are made out to be the big bad wolf when in reality they are the only actual revenue source for anything that is sold or produced.

You should start your own walmart and pay higher wages to all your employees if that is the answer


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[2065toyota]

If minimum wage is raised by a dollar, then business has to raise the price to the consumer to cover the increased costs. How does that really benefit anybody other than those that hold real estate who are at the most to gain by inflation


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[cchoc]

If minimum wage is raised by a dollar, then business has to raise the price to the consumer to cover the increased costs. How does that really benefit anybody other than those that hold real estate who are at the most to gain by inflation


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You have to look at what payroll costs are as a part of the cost of goods sold to see how prices would be affected. Costco pays their employees more than Wal Mart, sells similar goods to a similar audience, yet has lower payroll costs - must seem magical to you. At any rate, your tax money is going towards feeding those low income workers, so you should be proud that the company profits remain high - and I'm glad you are helping prop up my investments. Win win.