… this must be to fund the in-store Police Stations.
intercst
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Does this mean wage inflation is slowing? More people returning to work?
Meaanwhile pending auto strike looks like it could be serious. And a driver of more wage inflation.
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I think it means that Walmart will continue to staff its stores with the cheapest, lowest quality staff it can muster. The go-getters are finding better pay elsewhere.
intercst
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And more automation is coming. Self checkout. Robots in the stores. Replacing expensive employees.
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Hasn’t that been a general trend for a long time? They had self checkouts long before COVID. And, IIRC, didn’t they have some kind of robot that cleaned the floors but got rid of it?
Mike
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Lots more self check out spaces in my area and many fewer checkers.
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Actually retail in this area according to younger friends some are paying $15 our min wage but Walmart was $17. I do not know how far they fell back but it would be inline with others. The labor market is softening slightly for now.
There is a math where either way there are only so many people that will take the job. The employers in my area are reporting employee shortages in every business on main street.
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One of the largest sources of shrink is theft by employees. Maybe WalMart did a deal with the police department, to provide space for the police station, in exchange for the police giving suspected employee the rubber hose treatment, rather than paying for a loss prevention department?
Steve
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Wait till target, mcd, kohls, cmg, dicks sporting goods, stop and shop, shop rite, walgreens, cvs, rite aide all demand police in their stores.
How does that work? And why? Are these guns for hire? Does the city worker now only look after Walmart?
Why not send in the military?
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In TX it’s a time honored tradition for local diners, cafes, coffee shops, convenience stores, and even some restaurants to “give” cops free food, coffee, etc when the cops frequent the store while wearing the uniform and open carrying.
It’s thought that cop presence deters robbers et al.
ralph
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Same thing in Connecticut during my short fast food career-- free food for Police and Fire Fighters.
intercst
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You win another RS story. My part timer was holding the fort, while I was home one evening. The next day, he told me that one of our regular customers, an employee of an armored car company, had been in the store that evening. The guy was usually in civvies, but that evening, he had been in one of their trucks all day, so was in uniform, with a side-arm. Doug said a couple sketchy looking characters came in the door of the store, took one look at the guy in uniform, with a gun, turned around and got out of the store as fast as they could. Seems there might be a deterrent effect. Of course, that was in the mid 80s. Now, just as likely to result in a shootout.
Steve
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Walmart has always had a parking space reserved for police in their parking lot. Most retailers try to maintain good relations with police. Hoping they will arrive promptly when needed.
Giving them space to do their paperwork seems ok to me. Their presence may deter some crime. And taxes paid by store help pay for them. Why not work with them where feasible?
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Ah, the content, without a paywall.
In mid-July, Walmart changed the way it pays entry-level workers. Stockers and personal shoppers for online orders who join the Walmart workforce now make the same starting wage as cashiers — about $1 less per hour than the starting wage for those roles three months ago. Pay for existing workers did not change.
“Pay for existing workers did not change” eh? Bet they don’t see any more raises either. They haven’t gone full RS yet: cut everyone’s pay, so it’s almost impossible to make better than minimum, demand five or ten hours a week more, off the clock, and tell the workers how lucky they are that they are allowed to work there at all.
Atta boy! Solve the inflation problem by taking money away from working people.
/sarcasm
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Which neighborhoods? The minority neighborhoods? Or the white neighborhoods where the high school students and college kids are having a major crime wave? Because no one wants to tell white parents their kids are little thieves. It has gotten way out of hand.
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Start with the stores that have the highest shrinkage. The idea is to act as a deterrent.
DB2
But no one is honest about shrinkage. It would offend white parents. Seriously.
So what?
Put the criminals caught in the store on public display at the store lockup. Parents have to come get their kids when caught.
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Then those parents will shop elsewhere.
We as a society have gone from 1 to 2% shrinkage rates to 5%…that is not a spike in inner city crime. That is suburban kids.
However, their kids will still try to steal from Walmart–and elsewhere.