Wakmart rbots and freelancers

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icfrugal1
Posts: 2952
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:54 am

Wakmart rbots and freelancers

Post by icfrugal1 »

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/ar ... rs/557063/

I wish that it was just a think piece instead of a for seeing of what is to come.

IC
icfrugal1
Posts: 2952
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:54 am

Re: Wakmart rbots and freelancers

Post by icfrugal1 »

I should add that I am "guilty" of shopping at Walmart, and amazon.

King Aurther flour is $3.48 at Walmart and $6.99 at Safeway, I do not believe that the difference is going to the employees. !

IC
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Wakmart rbots and freelancers

Post by SandiSAHM »

icfrugal1 wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:58 pmI should add that I am "guilty" of shopping at Walmart, and amazon.
I shop both of them. If I can get the same product, made in the same facility with the same ingredients, cheaper on Amazon or at WalMart, I'll do it.

Unfortunately I don't have so much $$$ that I'm willing to pay more for a product based on the basis of how it gets distributed. We have a locally owned grocery chain (Reasor's) but wow, the difference in prices! As big as the chain is, I shouldn't walk out feeling like I just allowed myself to get ripped off.

I don't go through the self-checkout at WM, though. I've had people (mgmnt? who knows) ask me if I saw the available self-checkout and I tell them I'm happy to wait for the human being to finish working with the other human being ahead of me.
icfrugal1
Posts: 2952
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:54 am

Re: Wakmart rbots and freelancers

Post by icfrugal1 »

I don't do self check out either, I hope that it helps.
Quilter51
Posts: 2815
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 6:04 pm

Re: Wakmart rbots and freelancers

Post by Quilter51 »

I try to avoid Wal-Mart whenever possible, although I do use Amazon all the time . It's worth mentioning that there are an awful lot of mom and pops and small businesses in Amazon, and that my math shows a twice monthly Amazon delivery on a fully loaded ups truck to be more earth friendly. I shop at local mom and pops, use the grocery pick up model and get pretty much everything else from Amazon.

I do, unfortunately believe that the gig economy and contract jobs are the way of the future, which is one of the reasons I am pretty rabid about universal health care and alternate investing options. The employer employee model of benefits, be they retirement, health care, vacations or whatever are going down the tubes and health care/retirement saving models are not keeping up.
Carol V
Posts: 238
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:27 am

Re: Wakmart rbots and freelancers

Post by Carol V »

Hi all! Just couldn't help jumping in on this thread. I'm still at Walmart and it'll soon be 8 years!

Yes, there are changes coming to Walmart but they aren't bad ones. In the past six months, maybe a little longer, we have added 13 self checkout scanners and hired a dozen people to work them. Sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, and we STILL have lines to use them. I am now one of them because I asked to be taken off the registers to preserve what's left of my aging body. I simply cannot handle all the heavy lifting and hefting anymore so requested the change. It's stressful though because you NEVER stop running from one to the next to the next, etc. etc.. People don't use them right so they have lots of problems. They don't/won't/can't read, pay attention to what's on the screen or any signs posted and are happy for us to do it all for them. Self checkouts will always need humans to run them.

We have started the order online/pickup at the store for groceries and it's going well. When I fell and broke my hip last fall I would have used it! I would have ordered the groceries and had my daughter pick them up. It hasn't eliminated any of the lines inside the store though. We are as busy as ever even averaging 30 online orders a day. We don't have a delivery service. It's all pick up by the customer but it's orderly, organized and working well...so far. We have always had order online/pickup at the store for everything except food and that is now moved to the front of the store and electronically operated. It still takes humans to fill orders and bring them forward though. I am not worried about being replaced by a robot.

Amazon is giving Walmart a run for their money, for sure. Walmart has purchased several e-commerce companies so their online presence is growing also.

As for Walmart wages...those went up last year. Starting pay is now $11 and $12 hour after training which can take up to six months. My daughter works overnights and makes more than I do after only six months! They get $1 hour more for their shift. I forgot to read the part about benefits but I KNOW what our benefits are and I think they are fantastic. That 'bonus' we got after that tax thing passed was nice. People who've been there 20 years or more got $1,000. I got $300 for my 7.5 years and my daughter got $100 for her five months. We also got our regular quarterly bonus. My two week check was $1,000+ and I'd like more of those! lol Walmart offers different insurance plans that include medical, dental, eye care, short and long term disability, life and accidental death, and a couple more I can't remember without looking at my book. Nome of them are terribly expensive and the health insurance is Blue Cross/Blue Shield so not a 'cheapy'. Oh, and each employee is insured BY THE COMPANY for $5,000 which goes to the family if we die...for any reason. Our PTO hours add up really fast too. In Feb. of each year we are paid for any PTO hours over 80 in our paycheck. That means we still have 80 hours available to use. I was paid for 40 PTO hours this year and still have about 90 since that check was issued. Anyway, all that just scratches the surface of our benefits and I can never understand why people think Walmart is so 'bad' to their employees. They've been VERY good to me and I appreciate all they've done for me over the years. I just wish I could quit working, period! But, that's never going to happen so I'm glad I work for Walmart!
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