Walmart and Wages
An independent study found that the average Walmart associate makes just $8.81 per hour.[1] A Walmart pay plan [2] published in the Huffington Post frequently uses a wage of $8.00/hr in its examples of how to determine associate pay.[3]
At $8.81/hour, an employee who works Walmart’s definition of full-time (34 hours per week.[4]) makes just $15,500 per year. The websites Glassdoor and Pay Scale also indicate hourly wages below $10/hour. The company will frequently cite higher numbers by lumping managers in with its averages and excluding part-time and temporary workers. [5] In a September 2013 address to investors at Goldman Sachs, Walmart US CEO Bill Simon told the audience that “over 475,000 (Walmart) associates earned more than $25,000 last year.”[6] Walmart has 1.4 million associates in the U.S., including 1 million hourly associates in its stores. Mr. Simon's statement means that the majority of Walmart employees are paid less than $25,000 a year.[7] Though a Walmart spokesperson disputed some of the figures, he did confirm that a majority of Walmart's hourly Associates earn less than $25,000/year. [8]
Contents
Worker reliance on public assistance
Because of Walmart's low pay, hundreds of thousands of Walmart workers are forced to utilize state subsidized benefits, including food stamps and public housing. Multiple reports have examined this issue:
- An April 2014 study by Americans for Tax Fairness estimated that subsidies and tax breaks for Walmart and the Walton family cost taxpayers $7.8 billion per year, including approximately $6.2 billion in assistance to Walmart workers due to low wages and benefits.[9]
- An April 2014 Marketplace series found that Walmart is the largest beneficiary of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. The company receives roughly 18 percent of all food stamp dollars, more than $13 billion in revenue. [10]
- A study by Good Jobs First found that, in many states, Walmart tops the lists of employers whose workers are most reliant on government assistance.[11]
- A May 2013 Congressional report calculated that Walmart workers are forced to rely on $900,000 in taxpayer support, including food stamps and healthcare at just one of the company's 4,000 U.S. stores. [12]
Increased Use of Temporary Workers
In June 2013, widespread reports indicated that Walmart was increasing hiring of temporary workers. At the time, Walmart spokesperson David Tovar said that less than 10% of Walmart’s U.S. workforce was temporary, compared with 1 or 2% previously.[13] The ranks of full-time permanent staff are “reportedly getting slimmer and slimmer.” [14]
Potential Impact of Wage Increases at Walmart
The retail sector, specifically, is the largest industry by employment in the United States, and is projected to add almost 1.1 million jobs between 2012 and 2022, more than most other industries. A study by Demos found that raising pay to a minimum of $25,000/year for full-time work at the nation’s largest retailers, including Walmart, would lift more than 1.5 million retail workers and their families up from poverty or near poverty.[15]
Articles and Resources
Related SourceWatch articles
External Resources
Catherine Ruetschlin "Retail's Hidden Potential: How Raising Wages Would Benefit Workers, the Industry and the Overall Economy" Demos November 19, 2012
"Making Change at Walmart"
"Glassdoor page for Walmart Stores"
"Payscale page for Walmart"
External Articles
Susan Berfield "More Than Half of Walmart's Hourly Workers Make Less Than $25,000/Year" Business Week October 23, 2013
Avi Rabin-Havt "Walmart Flunks Its Fact Check the Truth Behind Its Sarcastic Response to the Times" Salon.com June 25, 2014
Steven Gandel "Why Wal-Mart Can Afford to Give Its Workers at 50% raise" Fortune November 12, 2013.
References
- ↑ Courtney Gross, “Is Wal-Mart Worse?,” “Gotham Gazette”, February 14, 2011.
- ↑ Sam's Club Walmart Stores Inc "Field Non-Exempt Associate Pay Plan FY 2013" Walmart Stores, Inc. February 11, 2012]"
- ↑ Alice Hines and Christina Wilkie "Walmart's Internal Compensation Documents Reveal Systematic Limit on Advancement" Huffington Post. November 16, 2012]"
- ↑ Susan Chambers, “[http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/26walmart.pdf Reviewing and Revising Wal-Mart’s Benefits Strategy, Memorandum to the Board of Directors],” published in “The New York Times”, October 26, 2005.
- ↑ “The Reality of Walmart Wages,” “Making Change at Walmart”, August 2013.
- ↑ “Edited Transcript, WMT – Walmart at Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference,” “Thomson Reuters Streetevents”, September 11, 2013.
- ↑ Susan Berfield "More Than Half of Walmart's Hourly Workers Make Less Than $25,000/Year" Business Week October 23, 2013
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Americans for Tax Fairness "Walmart on Tax Day: How Taxpayers Subsidize America's Biggest Employer and Richest Family" Americans for Tax Fairness. April 2014.
- ↑ Krissy Clark, "The Secret Life of a Food Stamp" Slate.com and Marketplace, April 1, 2014.
- ↑ Good Jobs First "Hidden Taxpayer Costs:Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and Their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs" Good Jobs First Updated July 24, 2013
- ↑ Democratic Staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, "The Low-Wage Drag on Our Economy: Walmart's Low Wages and Their Effect on Taxpayer and Economic Growth" U.S. House of Representatives, May 2013.
- ↑ Dhanya Skariachan and Jessica Wohl "Walmart's Everday Hiring Strategy: Add More Temps" Reuters. June 13, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Catherine Ruetschlin "Retail's Hidden Potential: How Raising Wages Would Benefit Workers, the Industry and the Overall Economy" Demos November 19, 2012
