Wal-Mart pays quarterly bonuses to more
store employees
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[September 21, 2016]
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores
Inc <WMT.N> said it paid more than $201 million in second-quarter
bonuses to hourly store staff as 99 percent of its stores met targets
for cleanliness, faster checkout and better service.
The world's largest retailer said 932,000 store employees received a
quarterly bonus this year. This was a jump from 880,000 employees in the
second quarter of fiscal 2016 and 687,000 workers in fiscal 2015.
Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the United States, with
about 1.5 million workers including hourly store staff, store management
and truck drivers. Hourly workers at the company's nearly 4,600 U.S.
locations are eligible for quarterly bonuses based on the performance of
their store.
This increase in bonuses comes after the retailer bucked a string of
weak earnings by its rivals and reported a better-than-expected
quarterly performance last month, saying it benefited from more
efficient U.S. stores and higher employee wages that fostered better
customer service.
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It also comes at a time when the retailer is cutting back-office jobs.
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart said it will cut about 7,000 jobs, mostly
in accounting and invoicing positions at its U.S. stores, and will offer
affected employees consumer-facing positions.
Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg said until two years ago Wal-Mart's
internal targets focused more on metrics like higher store sales.
However, in the past two years the retailer has pivoted towards a
greater emphasis on customer service by bringing more employees to the
front of the store from its back rooms.
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![](../images/092116pics/news_g11.jpg)
Shopping carts are seen outside a new Wal-Mart Express store in
Chicago July 26, 2011. REUTERS/John Gress/Files
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Wal-Mart has also increased entry-level wages to $10 an hour and
said it will invest $2.7 billion in employee compensation and
training over two years, a move it has said contributed to improved
service levels.
"As a result employee turnover has reduced and you have more people
on the sales floor," Lundberg said.
The retailer also recently launched a new system for scheduling
workers at 650 U.S. stores to improve staffing levels during peak
shopping times and offer more certainty over hours for employees.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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