5 ms·

Walmart Store Managers Can Make Up to $400k

21 points by karma_daemon 3y ago

arcticbull 3y ago
That's awesome, good for them. Hopefully they improve comp for front-line staff too.
- al_borland 3y ago
  Looking at their career page, it looks like the general front end jobs pay $14-26/hr [1], is $29k-56k/yr if working full time. That’s around the median pay for 16-34, and 65+, year olds (according for Forbes [2]) in the US. Not amazing, but also not terrible, considering it doesn’t require any special skills or training. It also looks like they have some decent benefits (healthcare, 401k, education assistance, etc), considering it’s a retail job. [1] https://careers.walmart.com/stores-clubs/walmart-store-jobs https://careers.walmart.com/stores-clubs/walmart-store-jobs [2] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/average-salary-by-age/ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/average-salary-by-ag...
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    > if working full time That's where they get you. Staffing less than 30 hours means you don't need to provide health insurance as an employer. This is what most retailers do for line level staff. Roles like Store Manager, Leader, or Coach are basically corporate management gigs that require or "highly recommend" a Bachelors degree
darth_avocado 3y ago
Non paywall: https://archive.is/xn4Ln https://archive.is/xn4Ln
surteen 3y ago
Is this astroturfing by Walmart? Why are there two stories on the front page about how much Walmart pays people? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39176877 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39176877
- justrealist 3y ago
  What would Walmart possibly gain by astroturfing HN? Do you think they are recruiting software engineers as assistant managers?
  - lnxg33k1 3y ago
    There was a story on the front page yesterday about many software engineers considering career switch
  - reaperman 3y ago
    They could be paying a firm for generic astroturfing / publicity campaign. That PR firm could have HN as one of many communities they target by default. Walmart could be unaware and uncaring as to which communities, precisely, are targeted by the firm they hired for this. The PR firm might not put much effort into specifically tailoring their target communities for each and every campaign, but generally just follow a standard playbook, which might happen to include HN.
    - justrealist 3y ago
      HN literally does not register for PR firms.
      - reaperman 3y ago
        Categorical statements are generally easily disproven: BMV is a PR company which won prdaily.com's 2023 award for "Best Use of Research/Surveys"[0] Their website[1] says: > You also want to distribute and share the news on your announcement into popular communities for engineering talent, such as HackerNews. Salient PR also targets HN[2]: > Choose a team that can speak the same language as your audiences and create content that resonates. Look for demonstrated experience engaging developers across communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, HackerNews, and relevant podcasts. Vidico's "Optimized Video Marketing Campaigns" also target HN:[3] > Q: Which publishers do you reach out to? A: Our publishers are higher tier tech publications that include Techcrunch, Hackernews and FastCompany. We write your press release, and include high-quality media media assets such as the video we’ve produced for you and still photo assets. Bizibl Marketing's "Content Distribution Playbook"[4] says: > And embrace communities. Platforms such as Inbound, Reddit, HackerNews and niche-specific communities allow you to put your message amongst your audience. But be aware that whilst these communities may applaud and amplify a relevant and compelling message, they are likely to pull apart one that is irrelevant, unfavourable or unwelcome. Relevance also offers PR services targeting HN[5]: > Take a careful look at whatever had worked in the past and leverage different platforms like Reddit, Slashdot, HackerNews, BuzzSumo, GrowthHackers, Twitter, and Zest. 0: https://www.prdaily.com/awards/content-marketing-awards/2023/winners/ https://www.prdaily.com/awards/content-marketing-awards/2023... 1: https://beantownmv.com/how-to-get-press-coverage-for-your-startups-funding-announcement/ https://beantownmv.com/how-to-get-press-coverage-for-your-st... 2: https://salientpr.com/developer https://salientpr.com/developer 3: https://vidico.com/video-marketing/ https://vidico.com/video-marketing/ 4: https://bizibl.com/marketing/download/content-distribution-playbook https://bizibl.com/marketing/download/content-distribution-p... 5: https://www.relevance.com/captivate-your-target-audience-by-following-the-best-content-curation-tips-for-seo/ https://www.relevance.com/captivate-your-target-audience-by-...
JohnFen 3y ago
Huh. We got the story about how Walmart truck drivers make six figures, then this. What a coincidence! Did they call in a PR firm to try to convince people that Walmart isn't a terrible company?
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
  Happens a lot around here where one thread leads to another. I assume people see the headline about truck drivers, do some research, and find this interesting as well.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  Recently I made the decision to go to wal mart for something instead of amazon. Lesser of two evils type situation you know, which I never could have imagined twenty years ago. What's grimly hilarious is that wal mart didn't get better over that time though, we just made the world so much worse that it no longer seems egregious.
- avgcorrection 3y ago
  Maybe someone went on a link binge (caused by the first one). The rank and file making good money and managers making good money are narratives that might appeal to different groups of people.
- genman 3y ago
  There was discussion under the truck post about the very same topic, so perhaps somebody looked it up and made a post? Not uncommon to happen here.
- BaculumMeumEst 3y ago
  https://paulgraham.com/submarine.html https://paulgraham.com/submarine.html
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Yes, that's the sort of thing that I was suspecting. As to the submarine essay itself, I was amused by this line > A good flatterer doesn't lie, but tells his victim selective truths I found that amusing because telling selective truths is a form of lying.
GoodJokes 3y ago
[dead]
htrp 3y ago
Store Manager Article Published January 29, 2024 at 9:45 AM EST Truck Driver Article Published Tuesday, January 23, 2024
game_the0ry 3y ago
Hmm. That's significantly more than what I make, and I have a college degree and work in tech. I should be jealous, but I am not. Good on Walmart for paying their store managers well. I hope the front line employees also get great pay and benefits too. if true, go Walmart.
- alephnerd 3y ago
  > I have a college degree The preferred qualifications are a Bachelors degree in Business. Take a look at the job postings. > That's significantly more than what I make The base salary is also in the $70-120k range for Store Managers, which is essentially the equivalent of becoming a Director at a public tech company. The 400k number seems to have come out of an outlier who had a significant stock grant. It's very good money of course, but you still end up earning more as a line level engineer with much less stress.
  - game_the0ry 3y ago
    > The preferred qualifications are a Bachelors degree in Business. Take a look at the job postings. I tried. Page would not load for me so I made some assumptions. > It's very good money of course, but you still end up earning more as a line level engineer with much less stress. Not going to lie - I have it too easy. Which is why I am happy that the hard working folks of Walmart made more.
    - alephnerd 3y ago
      Agreed, but salaries are just a product of margins and skillset, not effort expended. In a specialized industry like software or biopharmaceuticals, companies are expected to have very high margins (think $500k-1m in revenue per employee). Given that the pipeline for these industries is constricted due to skill requirements, that's why salaries tend to be much higher.
303uru 3y ago
LOL, where? Seriously is this an astroturf? Self-reported salaries on Glassdoor are on the order of $75-135K. The pharmacist in these stores is the top paid person usually. The only explanation is "one time we accidentally set a stores goals way too low and a store manager got the bonus of a lifetime:
resuresu 3y ago
[dead]
alberth 3y ago
Walmart did ~$600B revenue across ~10k stores. Which means each store generates ~$60M/store. For someone responsible for $60M in revenue, is the GM of a store with hundreds-of-thousands of products, and manages dozens/hundreds of employees - having an OTE of $0.4M could be argued as being underpaid. (Correct, I'm not factoring in eComm - but directionally the numbers are still rough order of magnitude accurate) --- Contrast that with being a Chic-Fil-a GM/operator, which is a radically smaller business by an order of magnitude, effectively just has 1 product (chicken) ... who makes $0.2M per year. https://corporate.walmart.com/about/location-facts https://corporate.walmart.com/about/location-facts https://www.mashed.com/179233/how-much-chick-fil-a-franchise-owners-really-make-per-year/ https://www.mashed.com/179233/how-much-chick-fil-a-franchise...
- alisonkisk 3y ago
  Revenue isn't a meaningful measure. Margin is.
tennisflyi 3y ago
Why is this a surprise? Edit: I’m in Walmart right now wearing a blue vest and stocking candy. SM: not sure - they do get a bonus based on metrics Store lead salary: see SM Coach salary: c. $75k, a bonus too TL: c. $21/hour, also a bonus TA: c. $15/hour
sailfast 3y ago
20K in stock each year if you manage the super centers. That (according to the article I read about this on NYT) is oround $128K/yr max, and the equity vests over 3 years. It's great for making sure folks feel a sense of ownership and you lock them in cheaply, which is good strategy. But not sure where the 400K number comes from.
karaterobot 3y ago
If, as the article says, they are adjusting compensation to retain skilled employees, it makes complete sense. That is, unless you assume Walmart doesn't have any idea what it costs to keep a good manager, but I very much doubt that's the case. $404K is the absolute maximum total compensation for that role. That's around the top end of a software engineering manager role at some companies. I don't want to be a software engineering manager at that (or any other) salary, but I'd much rather do that job than manage a Walmart. I mean in terms of the amount of stress and anxiety it would entail, the hours, the shit you'd have to shovel. I bet managing a high-volume Walmart is a more difficult job, and there are fewer people doing it.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
paxys 3y ago
Doesn't sound so absurd when you compare them to a director or VP in tech. They manage 400-500 people at the high end and bring in over a billion dollars in revenue per year.
Fomite 3y ago
"Can" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
zeemass001 3y ago
I do know they pay tuition for a 4-year online degree to their employees because I teach these students. I thought that was a good thing.
alisonkisk 3y ago
I "could" make "up to" $1M/year.

21 points by karma_daemon 3y ago

arcticbull 3y ago

That's awesome, good for them. Hopefully they improve comp for front-line staff too.

al_borland 3y ago
Looking at their career page, it looks like the general front end jobs pay $14-26/hr [1], is $29k-56k/yr if working full time. That’s around the median pay for 16-34, and 65+, year olds (according for Forbes [2]) in the US. Not amazing, but also not terrible, considering it doesn’t require any special skills or training. It also looks like they have some decent benefits (healthcare, 401k, education assistance, etc), considering it’s a retail job. [1] https://careers.walmart.com/stores-clubs/walmart-store-jobs https://careers.walmart.com/stores-clubs/walmart-store-jobs [2] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/average-salary-by-age/ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/average-salary-by-ag...
- alephnerd 3y ago
  > if working full time That's where they get you. Staffing less than 30 hours means you don't need to provide health insurance as an employer. This is what most retailers do for line level staff. Roles like Store Manager, Leader, or Coach are basically corporate management gigs that require or "highly recommend" a Bachelors degree

darth_avocado 3y ago

Non paywall: https://archive.is/xn4Ln https://archive.is/xn4Ln

surteen 3y ago

Is this astroturfing by Walmart? Why are there two stories on the front page about how much Walmart pays people? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39176877 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39176877

justrealist 3y ago
What would Walmart possibly gain by astroturfing HN? Do you think they are recruiting software engineers as assistant managers?
- lnxg33k1 3y ago
  There was a story on the front page yesterday about many software engineers considering career switch
- reaperman 3y ago
  They could be paying a firm for generic astroturfing / publicity campaign. That PR firm could have HN as one of many communities they target by default. Walmart could be unaware and uncaring as to which communities, precisely, are targeted by the firm they hired for this. The PR firm might not put much effort into specifically tailoring their target communities for each and every campaign, but generally just follow a standard playbook, which might happen to include HN.
  - justrealist 3y ago
    HN literally does not register for PR firms.
    - reaperman 3y ago
      Categorical statements are generally easily disproven: BMV is a PR company which won prdaily.com's 2023 award for "Best Use of Research/Surveys"[0] Their website[1] says: > You also want to distribute and share the news on your announcement into popular communities for engineering talent, such as HackerNews. Salient PR also targets HN[2]: > Choose a team that can speak the same language as your audiences and create content that resonates. Look for demonstrated experience engaging developers across communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, HackerNews, and relevant podcasts. Vidico's "Optimized Video Marketing Campaigns" also target HN:[3] > Q: Which publishers do you reach out to? A: Our publishers are higher tier tech publications that include Techcrunch, Hackernews and FastCompany. We write your press release, and include high-quality media media assets such as the video we’ve produced for you and still photo assets. Bizibl Marketing's "Content Distribution Playbook"[4] says: > And embrace communities. Platforms such as Inbound, Reddit, HackerNews and niche-specific communities allow you to put your message amongst your audience. But be aware that whilst these communities may applaud and amplify a relevant and compelling message, they are likely to pull apart one that is irrelevant, unfavourable or unwelcome. Relevance also offers PR services targeting HN[5]: > Take a careful look at whatever had worked in the past and leverage different platforms like Reddit, Slashdot, HackerNews, BuzzSumo, GrowthHackers, Twitter, and Zest. 0: https://www.prdaily.com/awards/content-marketing-awards/2023/winners/ https://www.prdaily.com/awards/content-marketing-awards/2023... 1: https://beantownmv.com/how-to-get-press-coverage-for-your-startups-funding-announcement/ https://beantownmv.com/how-to-get-press-coverage-for-your-st... 2: https://salientpr.com/developer https://salientpr.com/developer 3: https://vidico.com/video-marketing/ https://vidico.com/video-marketing/ 4: https://bizibl.com/marketing/download/content-distribution-playbook https://bizibl.com/marketing/download/content-distribution-p... 5: https://www.relevance.com/captivate-your-target-audience-by-following-the-best-content-curation-tips-for-seo/ https://www.relevance.com/captivate-your-target-audience-by-...

JohnFen 3y ago

Huh. We got the story about how Walmart truck drivers make six figures, then this. What a coincidence! Did they call in a PR firm to try to convince people that Walmart isn't a terrible company?

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
Happens a lot around here where one thread leads to another. I assume people see the headline about truck drivers, do some research, and find this interesting as well.
giraffe_lady 3y ago
Recently I made the decision to go to wal mart for something instead of amazon. Lesser of two evils type situation you know, which I never could have imagined twenty years ago. What's grimly hilarious is that wal mart didn't get better over that time though, we just made the world so much worse that it no longer seems egregious.
avgcorrection 3y ago
Maybe someone went on a link binge (caused by the first one). The rank and file making good money and managers making good money are narratives that might appeal to different groups of people.
genman 3y ago
There was discussion under the truck post about the very same topic, so perhaps somebody looked it up and made a post? Not uncommon to happen here.
BaculumMeumEst 3y ago
https://paulgraham.com/submarine.html https://paulgraham.com/submarine.html
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Yes, that's the sort of thing that I was suspecting. As to the submarine essay itself, I was amused by this line > A good flatterer doesn't lie, but tells his victim selective truths I found that amusing because telling selective truths is a form of lying.

GoodJokes 3y ago

[dead]

htrp 3y ago

Store Manager Article Published January 29, 2024 at 9:45 AM EST Truck Driver Article Published Tuesday, January 23, 2024

game_the0ry 3y ago

Hmm. That's significantly more than what I make, and I have a college degree and work in tech. I should be jealous, but I am not. Good on Walmart for paying their store managers well. I hope the front line employees also get great pay and benefits too. if true, go Walmart.

alephnerd 3y ago
> I have a college degree The preferred qualifications are a Bachelors degree in Business. Take a look at the job postings. > That's significantly more than what I make The base salary is also in the $70-120k range for Store Managers, which is essentially the equivalent of becoming a Director at a public tech company. The 400k number seems to have come out of an outlier who had a significant stock grant. It's very good money of course, but you still end up earning more as a line level engineer with much less stress.
- game_the0ry 3y ago
  > The preferred qualifications are a Bachelors degree in Business. Take a look at the job postings. I tried. Page would not load for me so I made some assumptions. > It's very good money of course, but you still end up earning more as a line level engineer with much less stress. Not going to lie - I have it too easy. Which is why I am happy that the hard working folks of Walmart made more.
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    Agreed, but salaries are just a product of margins and skillset, not effort expended. In a specialized industry like software or biopharmaceuticals, companies are expected to have very high margins (think $500k-1m in revenue per employee). Given that the pipeline for these industries is constricted due to skill requirements, that's why salaries tend to be much higher.

303uru 3y ago

LOL, where? Seriously is this an astroturf? Self-reported salaries on Glassdoor are on the order of $75-135K. The pharmacist in these stores is the top paid person usually. The only explanation is "one time we accidentally set a stores goals way too low and a store manager got the bonus of a lifetime:

resuresu 3y ago

[dead]

alberth 3y ago

Walmart did ~$600B revenue across ~10k stores. Which means each store generates ~$60M/store. For someone responsible for $60M in revenue, is the GM of a store with hundreds-of-thousands of products, and manages dozens/hundreds of employees - having an OTE of $0.4M could be argued as being underpaid. (Correct, I'm not factoring in eComm - but directionally the numbers are still rough order of magnitude accurate) --- Contrast that with being a Chic-Fil-a GM/operator, which is a radically smaller business by an order of magnitude, effectively just has 1 product (chicken) ... who makes $0.2M per year. https://corporate.walmart.com/about/location-facts https://corporate.walmart.com/about/location-facts https://www.mashed.com/179233/how-much-chick-fil-a-franchise-owners-really-make-per-year/ https://www.mashed.com/179233/how-much-chick-fil-a-franchise...

alisonkisk 3y ago
Revenue isn't a meaningful measure. Margin is.

tennisflyi 3y ago

Why is this a surprise? Edit: I’m in Walmart right now wearing a blue vest and stocking candy. SM: not sure - they do get a bonus based on metrics Store lead salary: see SM Coach salary: c. $75k, a bonus too TL: c. $21/hour, also a bonus TA: c. $15/hour

sailfast 3y ago

20K in stock each year if you manage the super centers. That (according to the article I read about this on NYT) is oround $128K/yr max, and the equity vests over 3 years. It's great for making sure folks feel a sense of ownership and you lock them in cheaply, which is good strategy. But not sure where the 400K number comes from.

karaterobot 3y ago

If, as the article says, they are adjusting compensation to retain skilled employees, it makes complete sense. That is, unless you assume Walmart doesn't have any idea what it costs to keep a good manager, but I very much doubt that's the case. $404K is the absolute maximum total compensation for that role. That's around the top end of a software engineering manager role at some companies. I don't want to be a software engineering manager at that (or any other) salary, but I'd much rather do that job than manage a Walmart. I mean in terms of the amount of stress and anxiety it would entail, the hours, the shit you'd have to shovel. I bet managing a high-volume Walmart is a more difficult job, and there are fewer people doing it.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

paxys 3y ago

Doesn't sound so absurd when you compare them to a director or VP in tech. They manage 400-500 people at the high end and bring in over a billion dollars in revenue per year.

Fomite 3y ago

"Can" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

zeemass001 3y ago

I do know they pay tuition for a 4-year online degree to their employees because I teach these students. I thought that was a good thing.

alisonkisk 3y ago

I "could" make "up to" $1M/year.