This is all fine and dandy but how will this affect PRICES??
Basic economics: When labor costs increase, prices increase.
My degree is in Economics, we have a LONG WAY to go before this type of labor pricing makes even an INSIGNIFICANT difference.
Are your really going to not buy the coffee maker if the price goes from $29.99 to $30.99? Of course not!
It’s time to take care of the hourly worker and I’m all for it!
And to the other poster talking about automation . . . the more you automate the less the differential between labor costs of here and the Vietnam’s and China’s of the world matter . . . meaning logistical speed comes to the forefront of manufacturing concerns. Look for a lot more movement of manufacturing here for that reason. And don’t tell me there will be no jobs, anyone who says that has not stepped foot in a manufacturing facility in many years.
If everyone is getting raises, we can afford it. You don’t want to see rising wages?
Oh come on. Do the math I saw a study that showed they could DOUBLE wages and the shelf price went up 1%.
That prices don’t have to increase in this case, since the company is getting a tax break. They are taking part of their increased profits because of the tax bill and redistributing it to their employees. Seems to be the trend!
The Democrats are probably hating this. Many people are going to see larger paychecks, both to due increased wages and to lower taxes. It’ll be hard for the Democrats to say this is a bad thing in the next election :-)
Walmart's overall food prices already are beaten by several stores: Kroger's Food 4 Less is one of them.
And when corporate income taxes drop, then what happens?
Walmart has been cutting need for staff. My local one may be an “early test site”, so don’t know how far all the stores have gotten, but...
Local Walmart has ripped out half the clerked checkout lines and put in LOTS of self-checkout kiosks (8-10 serviced by 1 clerk). They’ve also put in a “Pickup tower” right at the front, encouraging people to order online and spend less time actually in-store, with automated pickup & checkout.
Less staff with same revenue means they can pay fewer workers better (attracting better workers) with no net change in labor costs.
Given this is being driven by tax cuts, I see this action as revenue neutral at worst.