Working at Wal-Mart — Reviews by Employees

PAY: the pay at walmart isn't that great if you are just starting out. even if you are certified in a particular field, you do NOT get compensated for your knowledge. they have had a private company come in and dictate wa pay scale for their positions, and they pretty much stick to it.
RESPECT: the company makes it a value to value their employees, but some management does not practice this value, while others do...so it all comes down to who your manager is and their individual values as a person.
BENEFITS: you gotta be there for 90 days until you are eligible to receive your discount card, that's a longer wait than some companies, but it's nice that they do offer one to their employees.
JOB SECURITY: they do background checks on employees they hire, which is more than most companies today. if you are a hard worker, are open to working many areas in the store, and have a flexible schedule too work, it's a pretty secure job, more than most companies are offering in this poor economy.
WORK?BALANCE: they seem to value you as person, making it understood that when you are off the clock you do NOT work unless you are on the clock. that's nice and appreciated.
CAREER POTENTIAL: it's there if you work hard and do all the hunting around to get the position you want.
LOCATION: the company is located all over the area in most states, you do have the ability to transfer to a store that is close to your home if it's a hardship, i respect them for that.
CO_WORKER COMPETENCE:it depends on the person. for the most part many co-workers will help you learn the system so everyone can work together in harmony.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: it depends on the store, the management. many customers get really rude with the employees, i'm surprised in the customers ill-behavior in treating employees. for the most part the stores are huge, and not every employee knows everything, but they will always go out of their way to try and find out an answer for a customer and help them.

its good company in tough times to have a job at, but the pay could be better.

It's not bad enough that most of the employees are totally incompetent and lazy, but management is made up of uneducated buffoons. The pay sucks, the hours suck. They expect you to give, give, give... right up to 39 hours (if they have it available), but won't hire you full-time. I never see the store manager, he is totally hands-off, unless his boss shows up... then he's right there to take credit for everything that goes right. The employees are either morons, ass-kissers or back-stabbers.

I started working for Wal-Mart in 2000 and loved it. The management, pay, benefits and environment was great! I had never worked for a better company. Transfered to Chattanooga TN after working in Rome for 3 months and moved up to Dept Manager from Cashier within 2 months and then from dept manager to CSM. Once again my family moved so I had to leave the company after 3 years of service.

In 2008 I started working at the Temecula, CA store and it sucked. The company had gone to hell!! I had never been treated so poorly by anyone, the pay sucked and so did everything else.

I would never work for them again

I've only been working at wal-mart for less than 3 months, and I HATE IT.

Pay: Minimum wage. fair enough, I guess, but I feel I deserve more for the crap I have to put up with.

Respect: none. I'm being told differant sets of rules, being coached (on strike two, I'll likely be fired soon) for not following one rule that contradicts the other. I work in the can room, and I was told by no less than three people not to empty the can and plastic machines unless the count on them was maxed out, yet I got coached because all the machines had filled up 15 minutes after I had left for the day, I also got coached because the trash had piled up, even though my shift ends just as the really busy part of the day begins.

Benefits: I was given a packet for full-time benefits when I was hired, yet less than two months after hiring, I was listed as part time without ever having had an evaluation, so I assume most of those benefits I'm not going to get.

Work/life balance: since they've been cutting my hours back for no good reason, I guess I have plenty of free time.

Job Security: none whatsoever. I've been jerked around there from almost day 1.

Career growth, seeing as you have to be "coach free" in order to be considered for another position, and that they appear to be looking for excuses to coah you, I'd say none

Location: the store is located in a somewhat congested area, but it is on the edge of the city and the store is on the edge of the area closest to my home, so that's a plus, I guess.


Co-Workers: Fellow hourly associates are nice people, and easy to get along with, the management is the problem.

work enviornment: I am mellisaphobic (fear of bees and wasps) and the can cage where I have to take filled bags and boxes of glass is the only place where they DON'T spray for bugs because they have "lawnmowers" in there. WHAT THE FLYING FUDGE DO THEY NEED LAWNMOWERS FOR?!

The hardest part about working is not the work but dealing with jerks in the workplace. Companies should realize that if you treat people with respect you will have less internal theft and workplace sabotage, which ultimately will increase profits for the company.

My suggestions for companies:
-Teach management about how to prevent workplace bullying and deal with stress.
-Encourage everyone to be kind to all co-workers.
-Get a suggestion box /survey and place it in the break room for employees.
-Instead of micromanaging teach management how to manage by teaching employees.
-Management should refrain from having favorites and respect all employees.
-Don’t be afraid of employees speaking out. Listen to people instead of trying to censor them and learn from your employees.
-Management can foster communication by making rounds and speaking to everyone.
-Provide anonymous ways for feedback. (Suggestion boxes, online surveys, hotlines)

Please read the book Instant Turnaround! By Ross Reck's. This book is very helpful for building company morale.

I got news for you, all retail sucks not just working for Wal-Mart. The biggest complaint when working for retail is bad management. The reason management sucks so bad in retail is because retail attracts the worst kinds of managers. They are insecure because they haven't made it in life and can only get fullfilled from hurting other people. I have worked for Barnes & Noble and Target and the management sucks working for those companies as well. The only way to escape is to go back to school and get the hell out of retail. You also have to stand up to these people because its the only way to get them to back down. With this bad economy they feel they can walk over employees and bully them as much as possible. It's really sad how corporate America is running companies now days.

I'm gonna keep this short because I don't wanna get to into it. I got a job at my local Wal-Mart in the summer of 05 when they opened in my town in the Deli section, and I worked there about 3 weeks, and they fired me for wasting company time, even though I was still getting trained. All the rumors you hear about Wal-Mart is true, you're known as a number there, I swear for the first week or so, people were following me to and from work, and I was working 12 hour days a few of those days when I was only 18 and still in school. Everyone should buy the movie "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices" and learn about what their "plan" is. Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiSmlmXp-aU

This is from a hard workers point of view and also i think the majority of ratings on this site come from people have been fired, i haven't. worked there for almost 5 months now.

Pay: i started out at 8.60. having had retail experience. The girl who started the same day as me, having NO work experience AT ALL, first job made 9.50. That part im mad about. But she was a terrible worker and got fired.

Respect: From my direct manager, its great. She see's that i do a great job and compliments me. from the assistant managers, from the one thats above me its alright. He doesnt see me work so he doesnt see that i have done a fantastic job so im average in his eyes.

Benefits: 10 percent off of everything except (healthy) grocery. thats pretty good. Full time gets pretty cheap benefits. They give you like 40 percent off in the vision center.

Job Security: unless you dont work, they wont fire you. Just come to work and do what your told. just like any other job you cant be late alot or call in alot, thats why the girl mentioned above got fired.

Work/life Balance: You work during busy times, friday saturday sunday and generally nights. My fiance works mornings and i usually start work when she gets off some where between noon and 3. You work 9 hours a day with an hour lunch and 2 fifteen minute breaks. thats a pretty good deal.

Career Potential/Growth: As a hard working associate, at my 90 day eval they gave me the said was the best review they have ever given to anybody except one other kid who became a department manager in 4 months. Right now im looking at a over night support manager who makes about the same money as that.

Location: Wal-marts are everywhere, mine is 9 miles south from my house and one 11 miles north. which is good.

Co-Worker Competence: im the guy who they get when they dont want to answer a question or dont know the answer. It gets old but i guess it keeps me busy.

Work Environment: You can move to any department whenever you want really which is nice. I work in electronics and cross trained in the connection center (cell phones) and in the photo lab and its nice to be able to go to either. They like to pull me from my department to work in other areas and i like working in frozen or dairy better, only because there is a huge work load and when im busy time goes by quicker. Thats the only complaint i honestly have with wal-mart. My manager doesnt give me enough work to stay busy. She gives me an hours worth of work for a 9 hour shift and expects me to stay busy. So i wonder around electroncs straightening things. That part gets boring.

I have had other jobs before being hired so i have experience working.
Well the starting wage isnt bad. its okay.
My co workers are nice and great to talk to.
Here's where the good stops.
The management sucks. I really dont know where to begin.
They always seem to be understaffed or something cuz im always covering or doing something for some other department.
Management pretend to care but dont.
Management never seem to know what really is going on.
The big problem is Management.

FOR ALL THE PEOPLE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO WHO HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COMPLAINING THAT WAL-MART DOESN'T PAY A "LIVING WAGE" ......LET ME ENLIGHTEN YOU ON SOME THINGS:

FIRST OFF, NO, I GUESS $8.25 AN HOUR WOULD NOT BE A "LIVING WAGE" IF YOU ARE A FEMALE IN HER TEENS OR EARLY 20'S WHO GOT PREGNANT, HAD CHILDREN, AND FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY THAT BEING A BABY MAMA EARNING MINIMUM WAGE ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT.
OK, SO WHERE'S THE BABY DADDY WHO SHOULD BE HELPING TO SUPPORT THE CHILDREN? IS IT UP TO WAL-MART TO PAY YOU MORE BECAUSE YOU MADE SOME BAD LIFE DECISIONS IN GETTING PREGNANT WITH NO MAN TO HELP SUPPORT YOU?
YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT MOST RETAIL JOBS ONLY PAY MINIMUM WAGE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE JOB DOESN'T REQUIRE A COLLEGE DEGREE AND SOMETIMES NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IS EVEN NECESSARY.... SO IT'S UNREALISTIC EXPECTING TO BE PAID SOMETHING LIKE $10 OR MORE FOR A RETAIL JOB. I ALWAYS MADE MINIMUM WAGE WHEN I WORKED RETAIL ...BUT I GUESS THOSE POOR FOLKS ON THE SOUTH SIDE THINK THEY'RE 'ENTITLED' TO SOMETHING BETTER WITHOUT HAVING THE PROPER CREDENTIALS TO DESERVE IT.