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My favorite bit in the whole article: "[Walmart] now hires people to work with its employees to help them sign up for Medicaid ..." So Walmart cares about the
by jobu 13y ago
My favorite bit in the whole article:
"[Walmart] now hires people to work with its employees to help them sign up for Medicaid ..."
So Walmart cares about the health of it's employees, just not enough to provide them with a reasonable health care option.
- pekk 13y agoWhatever helps them pay less themselves.
- derleth 13y agoSo, if Walmart employees are on Socialized Medicine, does that make them Makers or Takers?
- aaronbrethorst 13y agoIrrelevant. What does it make the CEO and board is the interesting question.
- maratd 13y ago> So Walmart cares about the health of it's employees, just not enough to provide them with a reasonable health care option. Walmart is not a person. It does not care one way or another. Not because it's evil, but because it's not a person. It can't care. About anything. This entire "don't be evil" crap has really got to stop. Corporations respond to incentives, not moral arguments. If we, as a society, have decided that we want employers to completely provide for the health of their employees, that's fine. We should make laws requiring them to do so, with penalties in tow for non-compliance. But please stop the entire "they just don't care!" crap. They're not supposed to. They're corporations, not people. And yes, I know people run those corporations. Those people have fiduciary responsibilities to their stockholders, not to your moral compass. This is something resolved on a societal level, not on the corporate level.
- shiftpgdn 13y agoThen shouldn't Costco cut all of its employees salaries by half? They are a publicly traded company as well you know...
- maratd 13y agoCostco is the way it is, not because it's a saint, but because of the market it occupies. It is, for all intents and purposes, a wholesaler. They sell things in bulk. That's their thing. And they don't hold your hand while doing it. There are no friendly people walking the isles willing to direct you, just cashiers. You pay for access. They only take AmEx, etc. Mind you, I love the place, but it is the way it is because of what it is, not because it cares.
- shiftpgdn 13y agoI don't shop at Wal-Mart because of their Union busting but last time I went to Costco there were a handful of "floor" employees wandering around to be found if you needed help. Costco pays its employees well because their CEO thinks happy employees lead to better workers[1]. In fact the last big box store I shopped at which was Home Depot had less people around to help than Costco. I realize that's anecdotal but you can't write down high employee salaries as "Being just a wholesaler". [1]http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-06/costco-ceo-craig-jelinek-leads-the-cheapest-happiest-company-in-the-world http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-06/costco-ceo-c...
- npc 13y agoI think the whole point is that "should" and "shouldn't" simply aren't very useful concepts when dealing with corporations, like talking about what a slime mold should or shouldn't do. Getting morally outraged at WalMart is like getting really indignant about what plantar fasciitis is up to. Individuals will respond to moral accusations, but corporations are really only effectively controlled via legislation.
- nikatwork 13y ago