Walmart is closing 269 stores and laying off thousands of employees.

[Independent voter]

The ignorance comes from the people who have never worked for a company like Wal-Mart and aren't aware of how truly shitty they treat their employees.

People don't have to work at Wal-Mart, they can work at other places. Management seems to do okay at Wal-mart.

[Toosdey]

If Wal-Mart collapsed, so would the U.S. economy and one of their competitors would just take their place.

Wal-Mart is a pretty good company too. They could lay off a lot of people and have computers do a lot of the work instead but they don't.

Except then they pay out more for hiring technicians and mechanics to program and maintain the systems, and still have to have trained staff on site to show people how to use the machines. Why do people think machines run themselves with complete independence from humans?

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People don't have to work at Wal-Mart, they can work at other places. Management seems to do okay at Wal-mart.

Considering how much America relies on Walmart, yes, we do in fact need people to work there.

[Independent voter]

Considering how much America relies on Walmart, yes, we do in fact need people to work there.

People rely on Wal-mart?

There's not a 1,000 other places they could buy the same stuff?

[TrumpIsPresident]

Except then they pay out more for hiring technicians and mechanics to program and maintain the systems, and still have to have trained staff on site to show people how to use the machines. Why do people think machines run themselves with complete independence from humans?

As an automation engineer I can tell you for a company like Walmart using retail POS kiosks cost isn't the reason why they've haven't already replaced all checkout employees with automated systems.

The reason is people; their stupidity.

And of course sometimes their thieving nature, but mostly its all due to stupidity.

Walmart was actually a trailblazer and remains at on the leading edge of automated checkout.

They risked on the idea when other companies didn't want to and they're also resisting the customer related problems which caused other retailers to panic and remove the systems.

The problems, like I said, arise from the customer not the system or the retailer.

As tech savvy millennials we naturally adapted to the interaction with a computer during a check out process.

But stupid people, and of course those who and older, don't acclimate well to the change.

If you go to a Walmart in a more affluent and youthful area you will see dozens of automated checkout kiosks all being used.

If you go to a Walmart in a po-dunk, ghetto, or area where with more elderly you'll likely only see a few kiosks and most likely they'll be avoided by the bulk of the customer base.

And as for the job loss side of automated kiosks the same was said about the barcode when it was introduced.

I doubt any of us ever saw the days before barcoding but clerks would literally examine an item for a price tag, enter it manually, and if needed called for "price check" for another employee to run to the items location and respond to the lane with its price.

This was incredibly slow by comparison and so when barcoding came along and sped the checkout process up greatly people were worried about a massive loss in jobs.

Sure, jobs were lost but new jobs were also created.

Automation enabled the stimulation of other areas in the business environment and the economic benefits were balanced because automation was offset by job creation.

BUT the key factors here were that there was no climate hostile to business (such as we have now) which would have retarded advancement, and the fact that people (both employee and customer) were willing to accept a new standard and adapt to it.

[Toosdey]

People rely on Wal-mart?

There's not a 1,000 other places they could buy the same stuff?

Not at the price wal-mart offers. The company is unbelievably aggressive with it's pricing. What you are arguing is essentially the same as saying we don't need McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, Arbys, ect. By definition, no, we don't literally need them. However, our culture demands that these establishments are present and available to us, so we do in fact need people working them. Even if the average person in America was as smart as Stephen Hawking, we would still need these places.

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Well, hopefully those people laid off can get actual jobs and not retail.

Implying there is such an overwhelming abundance of jobs companies will take any one who walks in and not be picky with it. Supply and Demand works for far more than just products sold in stores.

[Arthas242]

Well, hopefully those people laid off can get actual jobs and not retail.

if everyone in the world quit retail to get a *real job* the world would go into chaos as GOODS AND ITEMS WOULD NOT BE GETTING INTO THE HANDS OF PEOPLE!

i worked my ass off in management for 9.00 a hour *because i got bullshit reason that i was not worth 12 , 11, and then 10.... and they still told me they couldn't give me a raise cause that is not allowed in our corporate policy*

basically the title and responsibility, but none of the benefits *like PTO, wage, etc...*

i basically took a promotion for 200% more work for a 50 cent raise, and i worked there for 5 years while in school. i basically got told i am not doing enough or working hard enough when I know i did the most work and got the most done while also HAVING THE HIGHEST CUSTOMER RATING......Oh and I DIDN'T GET A LUNCH! i got a working lunch

*aka a paid lunch but really was just work, because if i actually went to go eat the store would go into chaos because of how they kept us understaffed*

customers would ask for me directly all the time or even ask what happened to me *and still do today 6 months from when i quit as i have talked with 1 coworker*

I also found out the store is a mess and things are not being put away correctly and trash never being taken out *boxes and break room*Customers are upset that no one seems to care about helping them...... I literally feel i was what was holding this place together because i HAD 4 or 5 customers tell me directly i am the only reason they still shop there, because of how i cared about doing my job and did it well.....


but you know when your the hardest worker and being told by the tryhard who sits in the backroom that you are not working hard enough when they could be talking to others who are talking on their phones......

it basically became HARD WORK WAS REWARDED WITH MORE WORK, not pay or even a basic THANK YOU!

*also to note this was all started by a new store manager, as my first one i liked and worked with 3 and a half years and retired due to family reasons, second one was ok... till promoting me and not giving me the raise i wanted, third one was a disaster that made me quit......

been spending the last 2 months job searching for help desk/Tech/Networking but have yet to get one......even though i can do everything they want and fill the requirements.....


Basically i am very jaded anymore.....

PEOPLE SUCK!