www.zerohedge.com by TYLER DURDEN
Well the post-pandemic reality is starting to set in and that means no more quarterly bonuses for store workers at Wal-Mart, who we just highlighted days ago was making a monstrous push to hire tens of thousands of new employees heading into the holiday season.
The retail giant is phasing out its quarterly bonus program for store employees as it raises hourly wages, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The company will be ending the bonuses on January 31, 2022 and said it’ll be “rolling” the bonuses into employees’ base pay going forward. WSJ notes that the company had already started phasing out the bonuses:
Walmart has gradually phased out the quarterly bonus structure over the past year as it offered raises to parts of its hourly workforce. Last year, it raised wages for around 165,000 store workers and eliminated their bonuses. This spring it did the same for around 425,000 digital and stocking workers.
A spokesperson for the company claimed that base pay was the “most important” for sales reps, though we’re sure we could find a couple of workers who would disagree, since the quarterly bonuses have been a part of workers’ pay for decades.
The bonuses used to be distributed based on store performance, the WSJ reported, but since then Walmart has used metrics like attendance and inventory control to help incentivize the bonuses. Not all workers or stores qualify for bonuses every quarter.
Recall, we just reported days ago that Walmart was making a major hiring push into the holidays, using a higher base pay as incentive to bring on workers.
The company said it would be bringing on 20,000 supply chain employees as the big box retailer heads into the holiday season. Jobs will be a “mix of full-time and part-time, but will be permanent positions,” the company said, according to CNBC.
The company’s blog said: “As our business continues evolving to meet the needs of todayâs customers, having a robust supply chain is more important than ever. Thatâs why weâre excited to announce that our team is growing.”
It continued: “We know that offering competitive pay is essential in order to build a network for the future. The average wage for supply chain associates is $20.37 per hour. We know that financial stability, health benefits, family support and career development opportunities are all critical factors to weigh when considering a job, and we aim not to just meet but exceed our associatesâ expectations on each of these fronts. Every item on our store shelves and in our online inventory is there because of the combined efforts of our associates working in more than 250 supply chain facilities across the country.”
