Walmart Will Shed 11,200 Sam's Club Jobs in Outsourcing of In-Store Demos

[marmar]

Walmart to Cut 11,200 Sam’s Club Jobs, Cornell Says (Update1)
By Chris Burritt


Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, will eliminate about 11,200 jobs at its Sam’s Club membership warehouse clubs as it hires an outside company to demonstrate products.

About 10,000 demonstration employees, most part-time, will lose their jobs when Shopper Events takes over sampling, Sam’s Club Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell told employees today in a memo. The company also is cutting about 1,200 membership recruiting jobs, or about two in each of the club’s U.S. stores.

Sam’s Club is working with Shopper Events to develop in- store demonstrations, such as food sampling, currently performed by Sam’s employees, Cornell said. The effort is aimed at improving demonstrations in the areas of food and beverages, personal wellness and electronics, according to the memo.

These cuts are separate from Walmart’s announcement on Jan. 11 that it will close 10 Sam’s Club locations and eliminate about 1,500 jobs, David Tovar, a spokesman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart, said today in a telephone interview. The chain, the second-largest membership warehouse club after Costco Wholesale Corp., employs about 110,000 people, Tovar said. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMpbHZkczetk&pos=2

[rfranklin]

1. And you thought Walmart was cheap with its workers?

This outsourcing will drive wages even lower. The outsourcing company is probably also a Walmart entity but they work under an un related name so they can abuse and exploit the workers without the bad publicity.

[Donnachaidh]

2. WHY is this unrecced?

Jesus -- I guess news of job LOSSES now pisses off the loons?

[marmar]

4. I was wondering that too....

Perhaps Walmart's PR department has a DU account.

[laughingliberal]

5. It appears at time a lot of corporate apologists have DU accounts. nt

[whistler162]

12. Probably the same rreason you tried to highjack this thread!

[Donnachaidh]

14. back away from the crack pipe dude

hijack the thread? WHERE? :eyes:

[DrDan]

3. my goodness . . . hiring "professionals" to hand out a bite of sausage on a toothpick

Not sure how they are going to make an improvement. All people want is a free bite.

[Ecumenist]

6. I'm not surprised. A Sam's Club closed here on friday because

it wasn't making enough money. Target whooped their rear end. Sadly, 120+ employees lost their jobs.

[SoCalDem]

7. As soon as Price Club (now Costco) opened, we dropped Sam's Club

and before that we had stopped shopping there..once i found out it was part of walmart..

[Guilded Lilly]

11. totally off topic

but your sig pic made me smile bigtime :)
thanks

[LeftyMom]

17. I know the one you mean. I didn't even know there was a Sam's over there,

until they said on the radio it was closing.

[BobRossi]

8. My mother inlaw was one that was cut. nt

[KittyWampus]

13. sorry to hear that.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

9. "Save money. Live better"

:puke:

[Guilded Lilly]

10. From the link above...jobs created at Shoppers Events...

"Shopper Events, based in Rogers, Arkansas, plans to hire roughly the same number of workers that Sam’s Club is firing, Cornell said in the memo. Employees can apply for Shopper Events jobs, he said."

Yes, I know Walmart has got to be benefiting financially or they wouldn't be doing this. Shopper Events are probably hiring for peanuts and very limited part-time hours. But it is a shifting at least and not outright elimination. I avoid Walmart as much as I do any waiting room in a Dr's office. And I feel badly for everyone who has lost a job recently.

peace,
Lilly

[LeftyMom]

19. WalMart likes to farm jobs out.

A friend of mine worked at WalMart for years in their photo department, wore the blue vest, ran the register in the photo center, etc, but in fact worked for a separate company. Usually WalMart actually owns most/all of the contracting company, so I assume there's just some financial advantage in doing the books that way. Looking at Shopper Events' website, WalMart appears to be their ONLY client and they're based in Arkansas, so presumably they're another WalMart subsidiary and this is just a paper move. These people effectively will still work for WalMart, minus a few who get dropped in the shuffle.

[cbdo2007]

15. So does this mean our Walmart boycotts are finally working?

[Blue Owl]

16. It's just they way they love America

By outsourcing our jobs.

[Lars39]

18. Handing out tidbits was one way that the elderly had to make an extra few dollars.

Not a fan of Walmart, but this sucks. :(