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Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

bloomberg.com

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Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#231

Post by ianai »

s73ver wrote: post #207
xienze wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're both assuming that this must necessarily be exploitative. It might actually be a good program for Walmart workers.

Walmart has not earned that benefit of the doubt. Given that it is Walmart, the default is to assume that it will be exploitative until proven otherwise.

I've only heard good things about Costco. I wouldn't give Costco the benefit of the doubt. Every company (except nonprofits) exists to accrue profit. There's no other factor. They do not have any interest in mind than profit. I definitely assume the worst from Walmart.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#232

Post by linkmotif »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #5

> Workers can opt in to earn extra money by making deliveries using their own cars. They’re assigned packages based on where they live so the route aligns with their commute home The headline makes it sound coercive but that actually sounds like an efficient use of time and energy (less big trucks on the road, less miles driven, more money for people who want it). I wouldn't mind dropping a few things off on my way h…

> as long as it made sense financially

This is not likely. Highly recommend the part about being a Walmart employee in the book "Nickel and Dimed". As another commenter wrote, these guys are just offloading benefits and depreciation and other capital costs on employees who are already living in poverty. These guys are most literally evil.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#233

Post by Consultant32452 »

eanzenberg wrote: post #220
Consultant32452 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least 80% of humans live on $10 per day or less. http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-sta...

Irrelevant without context.

I was intentionally providing context.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#234

Post by Splendor »

yourapostasy wrote: post #78

Questions I haven't seen answered yet: * Employee gets a destination with no parking available, who gets dinged for non-delivery? * Employee gets a destination with no parking available, but is told to double-park by local manager. Gets ticketed. Who gets dinged? * Does this constitute a non-CDL delivery service, or courier service? Will Wal-Mart handle licensing and insurance coverage of personal employee vehicles?…

Also:

* What happens if fewer employees volunteer than is required to meet delivery demand?

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#235

Post by mythrwy »

lghh wrote: post #208
phamilton wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly in a place like Boise, ID. That's $800/month, $704 after tax. Rent with roommates will run around $300/month. Food is $150/month ($5/day). That leaves $250/month for misc expenditures. It would absolutely be tight, but people can and do live on that much.

Hope you never get sick and have to call in, your car never breaks down, and you never have a medical emergency!

If you get seriously sick 3X (5 time even) that amount won't save you. But as things stand now you'd have free(ish) healthcare anyway.

Car? What car? You are walking, biking, riding the bus.

It's doable, barely, just barely and there will be troubles if anything comes up.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#236

Post by HarryHirsch »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #195
alistairSH wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless I missed it, that report doesn't indicate the total hours worked, only rates at which doctors perform work outside their primary clinical job. There is also a massive difference between a doctor taking a side job because they enjoy it and a WalMart associate taking a delivery job because they have no choice.

There's also a massive difference between a doctor taking a side job because they have no choice and a Walmart associate taking a delivery job because they enjoy it. Don't assume! Everyone assumes doctors are these fabulously rich people when many of them don't make a whole lot of money when considered on an hours-worked basis.

The poor creatures! Between their Mercedes-Benzes and their 5000 sqft houses (don't underestimate heating and cooling for that amount of enclosed space!) and the private schools for their kids and the cruise holidays to Madagaskar there is hardly any money left at the end of the month.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#237

Post by AlwaysRock »

My initial guy reaction is that this is really weird and I wouldnt want my package to be delivered by a stranger. Then I remembered my packages are already delivered by people I dont know. It seems like a nice way for Wal-Mart to cut down on shipping costs and a good way for their employees to pick up a little extra cash.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#238

Post by Consultant32452 »

__jal wrote: post #229
Consultant32452 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, then since the Walmart employees are still alive, the answer is yes. They can live on $40/day. As an added bonus, they have a higher standard of living than the vast majority of humans on the planet.

Well, no. If they could, they wouldn't be receiving assistance. Walmart has turned, e.g., food assistance programs into a subsidy for themselves.

If you can imagine a world in which food assistance programs suddenly came to an end, would Wal-Mart raise its wages? Perhaps the workers would demand more. Either way, in the long run it's not possible for any employer to pay wages below the basic survival rate.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#239

Post by williamle8300 »

Zarath wrote: post #169
williamle8300 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It says they can "opt in"... why are you criticizing this? And yes, they can also "opt in" whether to find a new job, and quit Walmart.

True, but I'd bet those that choose to opt in are more likely to get raises/promotions and create a vicious cycle where it's still opt in but everyone basically needs it to stay competitive (smartphone, car, etc.)

If you think your employer is crooked, then... quit?

I can't do everything for you. This is basic life skills.

Re: Wal-Mart will pay employees to deliver packages on their way home

#240

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh »

TACIXAT wrote: post #66

I think my biggest complaint is that someone making minimum wager or near minimum wage will value money above their time, so many will take this opportunity. Most will take up any reasonable opportunity to earn a few extra dollars. However, this takes away from time that could be spent with family or used to better their skills. The working poor are in a tough position and this program takes advantage of that.

"someone making minimum wager or near minimum wage will value money above their time"

I understand your concern about the poor not having enough time to spend with their family, but it's not clear why you are singling out this move.

This is like going on a minimum wage job posting and claiming that the kind of people who'd take up that job are doing so out of desperation and it will keep them away from their families.

This program does not take advantage of poor people. Being poor does.

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