Walmart's Commitment to Associates?

Walmart's Commitment 

to

Associates?

If you are a Walmart Associate, you probably already know about how Walmart has promised raises for 500,000 of it's United States associates. Before I continue I want to give you a copy of the handout which should have been made available to all associates in the US.

"Hundreds of thousands of associates of all levels will receive a raise this year" -Walmart 

Here it is:

Before I get into some things to consider, take the time to watch a local news spot from Bentonville Arkansas (Walmart Corporate Headquarters is located in Bentonville Arkansas).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjVa6hSlq2A

Hopefully, you took the time to read the handout. First off, lets not get our hopes up. A pay raise would be amazing, but we need to analyze some things and ask some hard questions. Consider these things:

Not everyone is getting a raise!

1. Keep in mind, this handout is basically giving you a timeline. All of these things mentioned in the handout will not be happening all at once.
2. Be conscience of District Managers and Store Managers. More employee pay means less on their bottom line at the end of the year. This handout says nothing about more hours or hiring more associates per store. You could find yourself working fewer hours with even less help (If that is even possible).
3. Be aware of the fine print, wherever it may be. Walmart stores will probably find loopholes around increasing pay for it's associates because of their bottom line at the end of the year.
4. The working environment will probably be more strict. The coaching policy will probably see more rules added to it making it even more difficult for associates to promote or transfer stores.
5. Always do your research! Don't always listen to Walmart Corporate. Get the facts from as many sources as possible to see what's really going on.
6. It may not be bad at all... Everything could improve; however, associates who have been working at Walmart need to be treated like individuals, like human beings. Problems are solved when more associates are hired and each associate is allowed to focus on the jobs they were hired for. As of now, associates are not getting payed enough for how much they are asked to do.

Here are the facts:

• Walmart has 2.2 Million associates around the world
• Walmart has 1.3 Million associates in the United States
• Only 500,000 out of 1,300,000 U.S. associates will be getting a raise
• Only 38.46% of all U.S. associates will be getting a raise
• Only 5 out of every 13 U.S. associates will be getting a raise

Walmart is testing the waters to see if pay raises will make a difference in customer satisfaction, which basically comes down to the bottom line. It seems like these pay raises are just an experiment for the time being. I'm sure they will expand it to the rest of the company if it works; however, don't get too excited. Walmart is known to make changes. Don't be surprised if they continue to do so.

Walmart Company Statistics: 

Statistics taken from WolframAlpha: 3/18/2015