WalMart checkout lines

It should be a temporary delay. Wal-Mart will likely resolve this issue by importing Chinese children to work the check-out lines and do the jobs Americans and illegal aliens refuse to do. Not to worry, prices will remain low as the only cost will be the tools used to encourage productivity.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article...ina_Says_Little_of_Child_Slavery_x2019_s_Role

 

I'll bet you (except that I'm not a betting man) that of the 35 cash registers there, 25 of the are FAKE REGISTERS.

It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

 

Makes you wonder why they didn't use that space that the registers are taking up to cram more stuff into the store . . .

 

As a former restaurant manager, I can tell you that it was one of two things:

Either it was unexpectedly busy. Stores only staff for what they expect. We had one Tuesday, which was our slowest day, that we did 10 times (yes, 10 times) our usual business. We never figured out why. We had a line out the door and around the corner, and we certainly had not planned on it.

Or, they simply can't get people to work. Around here, one reason that I work so much, is that no one wants to work. They think the employer should work around their convenience. And, I can tell you one thing, I make a whole lot more than a checkout person does.

 

Lots of communities have banned Walmart.

 

As a retail manager I know why Wal Mart and everyone else has more registers than they normally use. You have to have enough cash registers to handle your peak business. Your peak business is the month of December. My store has 12 registers of which 3 or 4 are normally in use, the others are their for the holidays.

On a daily basis staffing is a gamble as HOG said. If I only expect to do enough business to keep 3 registers open I may only have 3 cashiers availble. Then we get slammed and I find myself 1 or 2 cashiers short. That is when you will see me on a register.

The other problems is the payroll budget. Payroll is the one area that there is 100% control over. You can't control the rent, lights, cost of merchandise, etc. but management must control payroll. It has always been the "unforgiveable sin" to be over your payroll budget. That means that there are days I know I will need 4 cashiers, but because of payroll constraints I may only have 3. I would love to have the fourth, but you must hit payroll.

Bill

 

This seems to be common at all the stores with more then 2 or 3 regiaters that I go to. It's not just wal mart.
And this is the news forum, waiting in line at the check out isn't news, it's common everyday life.

 

The real catch 22 is when the computer tells you that you need 3.5 people on a given position. You're either behind (which makes you look bad) or over budget (which makes you look bad).

 

I have been in management at second jobs at Dollar General and CVS. People in upper management get paid big bucks to figure staffing and what serves the public. It seems to me, the company, either through inept leadership or being cheap, always side with a lack of staffing over the needs of the customer. That is quite pathetic when the high powered CEOs make millions upon millions while the company is too cheap to hire another part time cashier to help in rush times. Its not the caring about the customer, its about the profit and the bonuses. It is the same mindset the motivates politicians.

 

Then the payroll constraints need to be changed. We wouldnt want to take away from the bonuses, would we?