Walmart is doing what they should have done initially and is giving their employees healthcare. A dramatic shift is now being made with 35,000 part-time employees being moved to full-time status. This will entitle them to the healthcare benefits Walmart was trying to avoid paying for all along. Walmart hasn't given up avoiding responsibility just yet. Walmart has programs to help their employees apply for medicaid, which may seem good, but is actually just another way to pay less and have the government pay more. Medicaid is for those who can't afford healthcare and who's work doesn't offer it, but that doesn't stop Walmart from attempting to take advantage of a government program to stick tax-payers with their employee's medical bills.
Walmart is not the first company to attempt heavy reliance on part-time workers. Home Depot attempted a similar strategy in the early 2000's and received a reduction in customer service, satisfaction and sales. Walmart's competitor, Costco does the exact opposite and pays its employees a wage nearly $22 dollars an hour and has experienced great increases in profits. So if paying our employees more and giving them more benefits makes customer satisfaction increase as well as sales, why does paying the executives at the top obscene sums of money seem more reasonable than paying the workers at the bottom a modest increase in pay? Although people often argue that Obamacare might hurt companies, it does the opposite. By making companies provide their employees with reasonable benefits, the Affordable Care Act is actually helping companies whether or not they believe it.
This was a really interesting post as I was unaware of Walmart's actions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it does not come as a surprise to me that companies that pay their employees better and treat their employees better end up doing better. Further, it has also been proven that companies that have philanthropic activity of any sort, ALSO do comparatively better than their competitors that do not.
One company that comes to mind is American Apparel. American Apparel sells clothes at seemingly very expensive prices. For example, a cotton skirt at AA costs about $35 at full price. Though, they strongly advertise that everything they make is made in American factories, they are anti-sweatshop, and their employees are paid about $12 an hour. Although this is not a lot, is significantly better than the $5 a week wages for the children oversees that are making our nice and cheap T-shirts at Walmart.
However, like many college kids, and many other Americans on a budget, the conflict between my ethical feelings and my physical wallet are ongoing. The question I am asking (you as well as myself) is: how can individuals on a budget support higher wages and better employee treatment without going broke themselves?