Leaked Wal-Mart memo shows callous attitude toward employees - By Michael Kuchta, Workday Minnesota
Wal-Mart's employee benefits, the memo says, are hurting profits. The company has too many full-time workers, it says. Too many older workers. Too many obese workers with health problems. Too many long-term employees - who cost the company 55 percent more than new employees and are more likely to stay at Wal-Mart rather than seek another job.
Just as bad, the memo says, is that critics are right: Wal-Mart's low-income workers can't afford its health insurance. Wal-Mart does have 'a significant percentage of associates and their children on public assistance.' Many of these public programs do offer 'more generous health insurance than Wal-Mart provides.'