Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has decided that it will use computers to match store traffic [subscription required] to the number of workers it has in its stores. The idea is novel, but its puts the burden on the retailer's workforce to show up only when it is needed, and leave when it is not. Other chains, including RadioShack Corp. (NYSE:RSH), have similar systems.
A number of Wal-Mart's employees will be "on call" the way that doctors are. The major difference is that doctors are paid more for their trouble.
The move by Wal-Mart is seen as a way to increase productivity and make the customer experience better by having the number of employees needed to service rise as store traffic rises.
The system has a certain genius of its own. It can move workers out of the stores when traffic dips, and balances productivity at the big retail chain squarely on the backs of its lowest paid workers.
The systems does have the chance of back firing. It is just the kind of employee flogging that a new Democratic Congress would love to challenge as an "unfair" labor practice.
Wal-Mart takes a fairly big gamble with the move. If it works, it could substantially improve margins at a time when same-store sales are falling apart.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
Will Rich Ross really have a positive impact on Disney's movie operations?
Consumers sick of recession, may spend extra on holidays
Corrections, seasonality and Santa Claus
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-04-2007 @ 11:33PM
Vickie said...
I am sure you wouldn't mind being on call for your job. Sitting down to a meal and in comes a call to return to work? Who cares, it is better for your company. Going on vacation, but traffic is heavy this Monday, so cancel your plans. You don't mind, it is better for your companies bottom line.
And on the flip side, you were counting on your paycheck being a certain amount for the week just so you could make that new car payment, but since sales were lagging a bit this week, you got 10 hours less at work and oops, at the Wal-Mart rate of $8 an hour hour you are $80 short on your pay this week, so it is either fewer groceries or late on the car payment, which will it be?
I can see so many problems with this it makes my head spin. I don't expect people with no empathy to "get it" though.
1-03-2007 @ 12:40PM
Robert Cunningham said...
The statement that Douglas McIntyre makes about placing placing productivity squarely on the backs of Wal-Mart's lowest paid workers is not supported.
The need for stockers, floor personnel and cashiers would be proportionate. The management personnel would remain.
1-04-2007 @ 7:01AM
thomas diCocco said...
That is why walmart needs a labor union,so at least employees have a say and fair representation. This is just a bullying tactic that is a slap in the workers face.
1-03-2007 @ 1:33PM
thomas diCocco said...
That is why walmart needs a labor union,so at least employees have a say and fair representation. This is just a bullying tactic that is a slap in the workers face.
1-04-2007 @ 1:12PM
STARR JOHNSON said...
I FEEL THIS NEW WORK SCHEDULE FOR YOUR LONG TIME EMPLOYEES & YOUR DEVOTED EMPLOYEES, IS VERY UNFAIR & DEGRADING TO THEM. THEY'RE REAL PEOPLE & HAVE LIVES OUTSIDE OF WALMART. WITH YOUR STUPID, THOUGHTLESS CHANGES TO THEIR WORK HOURS, YOU'RE TURNING THEIR PERSONEL LIVES UP-SIDE DOWN, BY SHOWING YOUR LACK OF RESPECT FOR THE LIVES OF YOUR EMPLOYEES !!!!!
YES, WE ALL NEED TO WORK, IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, ONLY HOW UNSETTLING IS THIS GOING TO BE TO WALMART EMPLOYEES IN HOW THEY TREAT THE CUSTOMERS ???
WE ALL NEED STABILITY IN OUR CAREERS & LIVES, & YOU ARE TAKING THAT AWAY FROM YOUR EMPLOYEES, CAUSING THEM UNDUE STRESS IN THEIR ALREADY STRESSED OUT, LOW PAYING JOBS !!!
WORKING WITH THE PUBLIC IS ONE OF THE MOST HARDEST, STRESSFUL JOBS FOR ANY ONE !!!!!
WITH THIS CHANGE, YOU ARE NEGLECTING TO RESPECT YOUR EMPLOYEES FEELINGS.....
I'M PRAYING FOR A BOYCOTT, FOR SHOPPERS TO GO ELSE WHERE, I WILL... & HOPEFULLY THE LABOR BOARD CAN HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES, CAUSE YOU'RE NOT HELPING THEM, & IF YOU THINK THEY OWE YOU FOR EMPLOYING THEM, WRONG, YOU OWE THEM THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE, AS "PEOPLE', NOT JUST EMPLOYEES OF YOUR, NOW
"NAZZI WALMART" !!!!!
STARR JOHNSON, FORMER EMPLOYEE, LATER...
1-05-2007 @ 8:29PM
Kelly E said...
Scheduling your employees to meet your business demands is done in ALL retailers. Those who are the most flexible in their availablity will naturally get the most hours. Retail is NOT a Monday - Friday 9-5 job. Period. If you want those hours, get an office job. I finally did when I couldn't take the weekly schedule changes anymore.
When I was a retail manager for a big box store, we were slow in the mornings, busy for a couple of hours around lunch time, slow in the afternoons, busy in the early evenings and slow the last couple of the hours of the day. It did not make sense to hire and schedule full time cashiers to stand around all day during the slow times when I could use part time employees on shorter shifts to have additional (needed) coverage during the busy times. We also had our historical sales data from the previous years broken down day by day. If we were expecting a slow week, we scheduled fewer hours. If we were expecting a busy week, we scheduled more hours. Available hours are tied directly to sales. On a slow day, I might ask if anyone wanted to go home early. Someone always did. On a busy day, I might call one of the employees looking for more hours and ask if he wanted to come in to work.
Please stop picking on WalMart for taking care of its business needs. How many of us have shopped there late in the evening and had to stand in long lines because only two cashiers were scheduled after 9pm? Since more families have both parents working, the bulk of the grocery and other shopping is no longer done during traditional work hours. These retailers need the staffing flexibility to meet the needs of the overwhelming number of customers who shop in the evenings and on the weekends.