Well...I do wish they would treat their employees better. With that type of money behind them and a significant workforce, you think they could at least offer mediocre health insurance.
I guess anything to keep the overhead down though...
"Well...I do wish they would treat their employees better."
I think they just go with market forces, paying what people will work for. Each year 42% of Walmart's staff quits. Many use it to get back on their feet and then go into a college program of some sort. And 75% of the management at Walmart is former associates. So career advancement is a real possibility.
However I think we will see the economy and greater world increasingly move to the free market model of labor. Breaking up powerful unions which right now are essentially extorting the average person.
For example you need electricity and you need sewage to your house. The worker's at Walmart competing in the free market, have no choice but to pay the lavish salaries and benefits of these union workers. Whereas those union workers can chooe where to shop, and choose the lowest cost store.
Another factor is the overgrown bureaucracy in so many fields. As those get taken out by the companies which streamline their management structure it will bring the cost of everything down.
One other thing Walmart does is it is giving stock to all of its employees. So as Walmart makes money they are making dividends. Which I think is an important part of transitioning to an 'ownership society'.
Costco pays their employees more, offers better benefits at more reasonable prices, and yet offers the same pricing level on their goods as a Sam's Club. And they don't seem to be hurting, they're profitable and have over 450 stores all over. What are they doing that Sam's Club isn't? Perhaps they treat their employees as an asset rather than a disposable item?