ipl-logo

Walmart's Impact On America

911 Words4 Pages

For decades now, Walmart has been one of the most successful retailers in America. Walmart has become a household name in nearly every house in the country, even outside of this country, because of their low prices and vast selection. But despite all the popularity that has been built up with Walmart, its impact on the American economy and society has been mostly negative. As being one of the biggest box stores in the world, Walmart has left a huge trail of destruction in the way they treat their workers, their customers, small businesses, and local communities. To start off, as the largest retailer in the U.S., Walmart has buying power which they use to negotiate lower prices from their suppliers. Walmart is known for its low prices, but these prices come at a cost. The company has been known for paying its employees low wages and providing few benefits, which can lead to poverty and financial instability. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute,”Average Walmart hourly pay ranges from approximately $9.48 per hour for Courtesy Associate”(Indeed), which is not even enough to support a family. Walmart has also been accused of …show more content…

One proposed solution is to enforce antitrust regulations, to prevent Walmart from having too much market power. Another option is to introduce living wage laws and stricter labor regulations, to ensure that Walmart employees are treated fairly and with dignity. “Get fired for any little thing, they don’t value their employees at all, management sucks” (Indeed)This quote comes from one of their current employees. This was posted on September 14, 2011. It gets worse from there. Encouraging the development of local businesses, and investing in American manufacturing, can also help to reduce Walmart's dominance and promote a more diverse

Show More
Related

  • Karen Olsson's Article 'Up Against Walmart'

    1070 Words  | 5 Pages

    Workers are asked to help after hours and are not being paid overtime. “Americans can’t live on Walmart paycheck” (Olsson 608). Even to this day workers are being paid the minimum and are forced to get a second job because it does not support them and their needs. “Walton paid his first clerks 50 to 60 cents an hour substantially below minimum wage at the time” (Olsson 611). This shows that Walmart has paid their workers at a low wage since the company’s beginning and has not improved.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Walmart And Jim Hightower

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some people may wonder how, with such low prices, Wal-Mart can sustain such a large profit margin. Well according to Jim Hightower, that answer lies within Wal-Mart’s workforce. Hightower believes that Wal-Mart is tricking its workers into thinking they are, “one big, happy family,” when in reality those workers are being exploited. According to Jim, Wal-Mart is diverting their workers from the actual issues such as, “fair wages, hiring discrimination, or unionization.” This is backed up in the 2004 documentary aired by PBS called, “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?”

    Read More

  • Olsson Up Against Walmart

    204 Words  | 1 Pages

    Olsson’s article “Up Against Walt-Mart” is an investigative reporting. Wal-Mart say “We Sell for Less” and “Everyday Low Prices”. Wal-Mart managers push the employees to the limit; they just want to see how much they can get away with without having to hire someone else. The company is the world’s largest retailer, with 4220 billion in sales, and nation’s largest private employer, with 3,372 stores and more than 1 billion hourly workers. Its annual revenues account for 2 percent of America’s entire domestic products.

    Read More

  • Is Walmart Good For America Essay

    907 Words  | 4 Pages

    Is Walmart Good for America? Walmart has been in the media the past few years for its bad reputation with its working conditions. These terrible working conditions include, low wages, and insufficient health care benefits. The low wages that Walmart pays its employees aren't enough to support their families. If Walmart’s working conditions would improve, then Walmart would have the potential to be great for the economy, but at its current status, Walmart is detrimental to both America’s economy and working citizens.

    Read More

  • Walmart Is Bad For America Research Paper

    1080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Walmart is known to put other stores out of business and left unheard of. While this may be good for them, this is bad for those employees who work or those businesses. These people use these jobs to take care of their families, and Walmart is taking that opportunity away by trying to compete for the areas customers. Ethan Wolff-man stated “A 44-year-old grocery store in North Carolina saw a 30% sales drop immediately when a nearby Walmart opened a couple of years ago, according to a Bloomberg News story. Whenever the mom-and-pop supermarket cut prices, the Walmart would match or undercut them.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay: Is Walmart Good For America?

    320 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, some believe “the nation’s largest private employer” (Source E) should be able to pay its workers more than the average. All in all, because of its low prices, variety of goods, and convenient locations, Walmart is good for America. One of the main reasons people love Walmart is their low prices. Walmart, according to Source B, “allows people to buy the products they need at reasonable

    Read More

  • Summary Of Is Walmart Good For America

    1215 Words  | 5 Pages

    ‘Is Wal-Mart Good for America?’ On PBS Frontline, May 11, 2015 ‘Is Wal-Mart Good for America?’ is a documentary that examines the relationship between Wal-Mart’s rapid growth and its impact on the US economy ever since it blossomed in trade productivity in the mid 20th century. The documentary, published on February 2014 by PBS Frontline, conveys a deep understanding of how Wal-Mart changed the living standards of many Americans and took consumerism and retail logistics in the U.S. to another level; by cutting costs through offshore outsourcing to China and employing cheap Chinese labor. The documentary focuses on the changing relationship between big retailers and manufacturers and the transition in pricing and decision-making.

    Read More

  • Minimum Wage Debate

    2220 Words  | 9 Pages

    initiated in January 2016, its second phase to raise one million of their associate’s wages to ten dollars an hour. Many union leaders believe it is nothing more than a show. "It's easier to find a unicorn than a Walmart worker who has gotten a meaningful raise, or hasn't had their hours cut," United Food & Commercial Workers Union spokeswoman Jessica Levin said via email” (Wattle, 2016). Walmart’s “investment” in its associates salaries did come at a price. 10,000 employees were laid off or transferred to other stores when the company decide to close over 150 stores of its stores.

    Read More

  • Walmart Impact On America Essay

    722 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wal-Mart’s Effect On America One of the world's largest retailers, Wal-Mart, has had a significant impact on the economy of the United States. Established in 1962 by Sam Walton, the organization has developed to become perhaps the most perceived and powerful business in the US. The ability of Wal-Mart to offer low prices, a wide range of goods, and effective supply chain management are the keys to the company's success. The ability of Wal-Mart to offer low prices to customers is one of the main ways that the United States has benefited from the company. Customers are able to purchase goods at a lower cost than they would at other retailers, thanks to the company's "Everyday Low Prices" strategy.

    Read More

  • Deenu Parmar's Essay Labouring The Walmart Way

    148 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the essay titled “Labouring the Walmart Way”, author Deenu Parmar explains the unhealthy effects of Walmart, how to stop them, and the challenges of doing so. Parmar begins by detailing how Walmart has done little for local economies. By hiring financially vulnerable people, the franchise insures that no one would dare to unionize; thus ensuring employees will only earn the bare minimum, and thus out-competing local competition. Parmar also goes on to explain how a local community removed Walmart. They were able to do this through the use of fierce union protests that made the store unprofitable.

    Read More

  • St Louis Are Superstores Super

    1042 Words  | 5 Pages

    From a PDF provided by the progressive group Americans for Tax Fairness, MSNBC found that Walmart saves seven point eight billion dollars from subsidization and tax cuts along with hundreds of millions of dollars from cities eager to host Walmart. While Walmart saves billions of dollars, the company wide minimum wage is fourteen dollars an hour. Saint Louis’s wage starts at seventeen dollars an hour as posted by their hiring ads and Walmart seems to be trending towards seventeen dollars an hour. Neither fourteen or seventeen dollars an hour can comfortably sustain anybody living independently in the current period of rising costs. Walmart manages to escape billions in taxes but employees are left to fend for themselves with a report that “‘Many Walmart workers like me can’t cover the rent or feed our families without public assistance because of Walmart’s low

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Walmart

    1637 Words  | 7 Pages

    Walmart was founded in the summer of 1962 by Kingfisher, Oklahoma native Sam Walton. Although Walton’s original vision for the store was relatively modest, the half century since its founding has seen Walmart morph into one of the biggest companies in the world. Today headed by one Doug McMillon, Walmart boasts more than 5000 stores in the United States of America alone and employs more than 1.5 million people. Walmart is undoubtedly an American institution, yet each Walmart store feels like its own little country. Walmart seems to have its own laws and customs and the people who shop their on a regular basis appear almost primitive in their behavior as they go about raiding the store’s shelves and wrestling with fellow customers for discount flat screen televisions and bulk packages of two-ply toilet paper.

    Read More

  • Walmart's Compensation Strategy

    1031 Words  | 5 Pages

    For instance, the wage for a cashier is now $11.55 which is only slightly higher than the minimum wages of $11.40 in Ontario. This causes high turnover rate as a lot of staffs are working as part time and frequently quite due to the low pay. A recommendation for Walmart is to develop a formal human resource program and fair performance review process to manage employee compensation. When employees perform at a higher level, their pay rate may be justified according to their performance appraisals. Providing faster promotions is another way to keep people motivated and improve their performance.

    Read More

  • Walmart Capacity Planning Analysis

    1069 Words  | 5 Pages

    In this report, it was indicated that the employees were rude, they shouted at customers, accused customers of thievery, managers avoided customers and the employees went to the extent of scratching customer vehicles. This was retrieved from the online forums where people voice out their experiences and opinions. Websites such as ComplaintsBoard.com, Consumersaffairs.com and Report Your complaint.com also highlight lots of issues involving customer service at Walmart. Slow customer service has also been a challenge to Walmart as per Reuters Report 2011.

    Read More

  • Response To Conflict

    1399 Words  | 6 Pages

    So handling this conflict appropriately outside of the courtroom will go a long way in saving their good name in the eye of the public, unions, and government. Wal-Mart has gone on to enter into arbitration with 69 of the 135 employees to reconcile the conflict at hand. They are confident that they will be able to come to terms with each and every employee. They chose to do the arbitration separately as each employee deserves different compensation as the consideration of their title, time in service, and tenure all play a role in determining this. Not one settlement on compensation would be appropriate for

    Read More

More about Walmart's Impact On America

Open Document