Wal-Mart Staffing
In the case of “Staffing Wal-Mart Stores, Inc” the greatest issue seems to be that of diversity. Numerous lawsuits surfaced against the Wal-Mart corporation with allegations of gender discrimination. One symptom that may have been overlooked was the fact that while Wal-Mart’s employment figure had increased by 50 percent in a span of five years, the percentage of women the company employed had actually decreased by three percent. Another issue, particularly prior to 1998, was that higher-level jobs were not posted. Another problem could be that store managers were given the authority to waive certain minimum requirements for a job in order to promote employees. This could potentially lead to issues if one candidate feels that a fellow employee was wrongfully promoted over another, knowing that they did not meet minimum requirements. In addition, when employees were promoted to higher positions within the company, there was an implied rule that the person must be willing to move to other stores, districts, or regions, as required by the business. Unfortunately, this often placed women at a disadvantage in that they were not able to pick up and move their families quite as easily as men could. Wal-Mart also faces the question of equal pay and benefits for its employees. This issue relates in part to the gender discrimination allegations. It is important that management consider appropriate income for all of its employees, whether salaried or hourly. If there is any hint of disparity, it could lead to disgruntled employees and a poor reputation within the community. Wal-Mart is a vastly large company and continues to grow year after year with regard to number of stores and net income. With it’s growing size, the company also faces more and more diversity. Not only does the company need to employ an increasingly diverse workforce, but it must also serve an increasingly diverse customer base. Recruiting efforts must be exceptional as it