At a Walmart, an 80-year-old man was sweeping the parking lot, picking up stuff like partially smoked cigarettes. The lot was at least three acres. He had a broom and a dustpan—the process bordered on cruelty. Like others, his age, the man likely needs supplemental income. He also needs an industrial-strength vacuum cleaner. Walmart wonders why it has a poor reputation for taking care of workers—this man’s example is in plain sight. (These companies have the worst reputations.)
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Walmart pays its workers $14 an hour for those at the lowest level. This translates into $28,000 a year for full-time workers. Many of these people do not work full-time. The poverty level a family of four is $26,500. Walmart must know this fact, but it has decided to ignore it.
A look at Walmart’s financials shows how rich the company is, which means it can pay better than its minimum wage. In its most recently reported quarter, Walmart’s global revenue was $152 billion, with an operating income of over $6 billion. Its U.S. operations had revenue of $104 billion with an operating income of $5 billion.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon made $24 million last year.
The Walton family, the children of founder Sam Walton, each has a net worth of about $57 billion. These include Alice, Rob and Jim. Each is in their 70s. None has done anything to have their money beyond luck. The odds that any of them has spent much time in a Walmart recently are very low.
24/7 Wall St.Walmart’s founding family and McMillon have very little to say about the lowest-paid workers. Probably nothing. The situation is too terrible for them to address in public.
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