O you want to hear some real dirt from the Wal-Mart Home Office? I worked there for several years in Information Systems, eventually becoming the manager of several teams.
A few facts:
The Home Office has a "Christmas Angel" tree every year for "Wal-Mart Families. The presents from this tree go to children of Wal-Mart Home Office employees who don't feel like they have enough money for a stupendous Christmas. Examples of gift requests? Playstations, Gameboys, etc...
Home Office employees work a minimum 45 hour week, on salary. There is no "official" compensation or time off granted if you work overtime, even if it's a 90 hour week. (I did this once.) This is true slave labor. I did the math. Wal-Mart owes me 110 vacation days for the 4 years I worked more than industry accepted 40 hour weeks.
If you're a Manager at Wal-Mart, you "get" two weekends off a month. That's actually how they phrased it! Like it's a gift that you get half as much weekend time with your family now that you've been promoted.
The new Information Systems building in Bentonville, Arkansas actually has showers and beds so programmers don't have to go home to their families in the middle of a big project. (Some family company this is!)
Employees are classified as A, B or C level. This is NOT published to anyone but management. C level people are given crap task after crap task until they quit or fail enough to be fired. B people are just kindof ignored and A people never see their loved ones again because they carry the load for the company. There is no way in Hell any employee will ever find out what their classification is. It is top secret.
All managers are required yearly to complete a survey in which they list their employees in order of who they would kick off a lifeboat first.
There is a small device called a "Comp Scanner" which is taken by store associates into competing stores. It scans UPC codes and the associate types in the price for the UPC. It is taken back to the store and put into a cradle which uploads the information so Wal-Mart can lower prices accordingly. Can anyone say "Corporate Espionage?"
Wal-Mart has a policy of not paying any bill until it is so late that the collectors are calling (at least 30 days). This allows Wal-Mart to keep it's money longer in the bank (Bank of Bentonville, which Wal-Mart owns) to collect interest.
The Wal-Mart cheer. I just had to mention this. It is one of the most degrading things I have ever done, and I did it at least once a month for 4 years.
It surprises nobody as much as Wal-Mart associates themselves that nobody has yet shown up to the office with a shotgun.
Wal-Mart is cheap when it comes to travel. All flights for everyone, including Corporate Officers, are COACH. Even International flights (when the private jets aren't used.) Daily meal stipends? I was in England and got $14 per day. That's about 11 Pounds. A coke costs 2 Pounds. You do the math. You either starve yourself or pay your own way. (Don't even get me started on the fleabag motels they stick you in.)
If that's not enough, you have to deal with the holier than thou Walton family. I think we all heard about a certain Walton pulled over for drunk driving who said "Don't you know who I am?" (Bless those officers who arrested her anyway...)
Anyway, that's all I have right now. I'm sure some more painful memories will come flooding back at some point and I'll add to this then.
0 comments