TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (Robert Heinlein, Milton Friedman). Not that Walmart (and many other national chains) have much of a choice — quite a few states and/or cities where they have stores / branches increased minimum wage and companies find it difficult to justify the disparity in other places, even though the cost of living there is quite different.
But hey.
Last time I was in a Walmart, I saw all sorts of things which were made in China.
Great.
When I was a sophomore in college, I took a class taught by the dean of the psychology department, a recognized scholar. The first day he told us, “If there’s one thing I want you to get from this class it’s this: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.”
A large chunk of their corporate deadweight has needed to go for a long time. They do stupid things from Bentonville which predictably damage the profitability of local stores and then are never held accountable.
As for the store closings, a lot of areas are overbuilt.
Expect even more MASSIVE cuts by Walmart to come. Amazon is destroying their business piece by painful piece
I’m not bothered by this. Wal-Mart tried for the best spin by announcing the added perks to employees but it seems clear they are paying for it, in part, by closing many Sam’s Club locations and letting go middle management. There’s a ready group of them that don’t have jobs at Sam’s Club any more who can fill the positions ably. I just think of it as thinning the bloat so they can become leaner and more responsive to the market in the future.
With 1.5 million employees in the USA; this is hardly news and it didn’t happen because they are giving raises. Stuff like this is looked at for months before making a decision just like closing the 60 Sams Club stores.
As far as Chinese made products; one would be hard pressed to find similar products sold in Walmart not made in China elsewhere. I hope that changes but I think everyone knows factory type work isn’t where the better paying jobs are; not even at the middle-management level. Everyone wants to make more money but they aren’t willing to step up, take a business class, and invest in a business of their own. No risk; no reward.
But...but...but I thought the tax cuts were supposed to unleash a tsunami of pay raises and new jobs. I guess not so much?
The administrative cuts will likely be of those near retirement and will get a buy out. Also included will be the alcoholics.
This is a standard practice that needs to be implemented every 10 years or so
They have cornered a lot of areas and can thin out the less productive stores in some areas to make the remaining stores even more profitable...