I've had the thoughts we've all had at one point or another, is Walmart an evil empire? I mean, it has forced a lot of small mom and pop shops out of out of business. It does import a lot of products from other countries, instead of domestically. There may or may not be animal sacrifices in the basements and backrooms of your local store.BUT on the other hand, they do provide a lot of jobs to the elderly, the undereducated, and under skilled, and of course, the common man looking for a steady job. They also provide good products at cheap prices, making more things available to more people. Also, if you believe in the capitalist system, like I do, you have to be amazed at the growth of this once small Arkansas company.
Still many out there don't like Walmart, including a lot of liberals. I had a bike riding, put all trash in the recycle bin, English professor, who had never stepped foot in a Walmart. Strange.
Well, Sci-fi author and journalist Charles Platt decided that he was going to find out once and for all whether Walmart is evil or good, so he applied for a job there!
Here’s why he thinks that despite its bad reputation, Walmart is actually a good company to work for:
A week later, I found myself in an elite group of 10 successful applicants convening for two (paid) days of training in the same claustrophobic, windowless room. As we introduced ourselves, I discovered that more than half had already worked at other Wal-Marts. Having relocated to this area, they were eager for more of the same.
Why? Gradually the answer became clear. Imagine that you are young and relatively unskilled, lacking academic qualifications. Which would you prefer: standing behind the register at a local gas station, or doing the same thing in the most aggressively successful retailer in the world, where ruthless expansion is a way of life, creating a constant demand for people to fill low-level managerial positions? A future at Wal-Mart may sound a less-than-stellar prospect, but it’s a whole lotbetter than no future at all.
In addition, despite its huge size, the corporation turned out to have an eerie resemblance to a Silicon Valley startup. There was the same gung-ho spirit, same lack of dogma, same lax dress code, same informality - and same interest in owning a piece of the company. All of my coworkers accepted the offer to buy Wal-Mart stock by setting aside $2 of every paycheck.
Read the rest of what Charles wrote for The New York Post: Link
2 comments:
In my city, Lawrence, Ks Walmart is opening a new store and hiring 300 people. They might not be the best jobs but they are new job when other people in town are getting laid off.
That is a very good point. The rest of the economy may be doing poorly (thanks Obama). but Walmart is still going strong, and even growing.
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