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Walmart Eliminates Greeters – Who Cares?
Did you ever see the movie with Jim Carrey called “Fun with Dick and Jane”, where he loses his high profile job and is forced to become a greeter at a local store? It’s so funny, but what was on the news this evening was not so funny.
Our local news reported that Walmart is eliminating the greeters at the front entrance. The person in the segment that is losing the job in April is an elderly veteran. He said this job keeps him going. They showed him saluting the patrons as they entered the store, and they smile and salute back. The local news person interviewed many of the Walmart customers who said they would no longer shop there if he wasn’t present. Wow! They were adamant that they look forward to seeing him, talking to him and that it adds to their overall store satisfaction.
At our local Walmart, it has usually been a disabled person in a wheelchair. They greet you with a smile, and offer flyers on specials throughout the store. There have been times when I’ve had to wait with my cart at the entrance, while a group of people chatted with the greeter.
My sister said at her local Walmart Super Center, that they are not only eliminating greeters, but they are also eliminating cashiers. They have half the cashiers they had last year, and are encouraging more people to use self-checkout. I’ve used the self-checkout at several stores when I have a couple items, but if I have a full buggy, I not only appreciate a cashier, but someone to bag the stuff and even appreciate the chat. These people are our neighbors and community. The physical interaction is more than important. It is part of a human need to communicate and interact with a real person.
I have seen cashiers in Walmart with a black eye, and I refrain from asking why; she is still pleasant and engaging, there are those who limp and sigh while they ring up my order, and clearly they are there because they have to work, they need the income, the benefits and they are part of society who need that job. They may also need the interaction, the pleasantries, to feel like they are contributing, and obviously, according to the people interviewed today, they are. They are more than a welcome sight.
As more low income jobs become robotic, and eventually eliminated, what will the more fragile in our society do – the veteran, the disabled or mentally challenged, the older person with an ailment who may be struggling, divorced or widowed, that needs this job, and human interaction? Walmart is eliminating greeters – who cares? I do.
What do you think of this policy? Would it change your view of Walmart as a company? How will the elimination of low-income jobs change the quality of life for those that depend on them?
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Isn’t it nearly all from AWS?
Sears died the moment they started the softer side of sears campaign.
Double bagging helps.
This young man is jaw droppingly ignorant. The only person more stupid then him was ME when I was his age! One difference might be that I always had an innate belief in private property. Somehow I understood that private property begins with the individual and what that individual is able to produce through their body or their mind belongs to themselves. The individual is the basic unit of private property. Therefore without private property there cannot be freedom. Hopefully one day this young man will have a great idea for his own restaurant. He will be able to bring that idea into fruition because of the training and experience in operating a restaurant that he was able to acquire thanks to his current owner. He will be able to finance it because of a loan officer/committee at a bank that provides capital. And he will be successful because of his incredibly powerful work ethic.
That is not the issue- it is that the system forces you to use a bag for something that should not be in a bag, period. Self-checkout is in most cases the same nonsense as driverless cars.
No.
Tremendously…..
Apparently, the Walden family has done very well by their homespun, value and customer-oriented approach all these years. I like Walmart – I like their prices, and they have added produce from local farmers as well as many organic products. A builder friend of ours pointed out their massive mansion going up off the beautiful coast of Grayton Beach, FL, near where I live, when he was doing some renovations at a customer of mine. I viewed it from the third floor beach house and it’s pretty huge and stunning. I may pay them a visit and ask for an interview.
My point is these baggers and greeters, and many foreign-accent workers who grace their stores in my area have contributed to the success of their brand. This story will continue…..
Minimum wage laws create a strong incentive to automate. The goal of the law was to improve their lives, but the reality is different.
Al – I want to find out about that – I will get back to you.
It’s possible – at least around here – to simply place the item in the bagging area and then in the cart after paying – all without ever actually putting the item in a bag.
I don’t share your position but you make your case well.
David, I see you are a brand new member. Welcome to Ricochet!
Read my lips. The point is that even one bag is stoopid. Period. Two bags is double stoopid. Etc.
Not here.
Well, drats. That would be frustrating.
How ’bout FOUR bags? Quadruple bagging…that’ll do it!