Curious. Was it difficult to find a job in your field after Walmart?
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Agree about the unprofessional behavior at Walmart HO. Having come from other large companies that were very professional, I had never seen anything like it. I think some of it happened when Walmart was growing quickly and promoting people into leadership roles that really didn't have leadership skills, and shouldn't have been put over a team. Many of these are 20+ year associates now. Now these people are afraid and trying hard to hold on to their job until they're retirement age. Fear can make some people lose their minds, so the unprofessional behavior is even worse.
It took me a couple months, but I found a similar job in a different industry. Making more money and lots less stress and better benefits. Happy to be off the retail roller coaster - it’s going to be downhill for a while I’m afraid. And the overall environment is sooo much better. In the years I spent at Walmart, the gradual uptick in stress, unprofessional behavior and general miserableness of everyone was so gradual, I didn’t realize how unhealthy it was until I left.
Don’t spend too many years there. There are benefits to the experience and everything you learn. But you can’t work there 15-20 years and expect to easily find a job somewhere else. Your knowledge will be narrow and dated and the learning curve too great for someone to take a chance on you. Keep up with your specialty/industry. Don’t get left behind and too comfortable in the Walmart bubble. You must evolve and adapt.
Yeah. I've heard you either have to have connections or you have to leave.
Jobs are going to get more and more scarce. I'm not even sure Bentonville is the company focus anymore despite the new campus. Jet is where they are hiring. Most of what I hear in Bentonville is layoffs.
When I went to work for Walmart I had a broad base of knowledge, but by the time I left 11 years later my knowledge was more narrow and outdated. In addition to that, I set up my outsourced Pakistani replacement who had no clue how IT really works. I was burned out, and didn't even care anymore really. Went to work for a vendor and found they were even more miserable than Walmart associates. Left the area and the field completely. I hope Walmart does not fail because the entire area really does depend on their success.
I left WMT in 2016 after 6 years with the company, and to answer this original question, I left the area because vendors weren't hiring my skill set. I'm not an expert by any means, but I saw my friends in merchandising and store operations leave for jobs with vendors, and those with my skill set not so much. That's not blasting anyone, it's just reality. Vendors have a specific role locally with WMT and the people they need reflects that. For me it would have been tough.
Back to Walmart not being the same anymore - I saw a pretty big shift over my 6 years in town too, but companies evolve, Walmart has to in order to survive. If Walmart wants to compete with Amazon, the status-quo won't get it done. Everyone wants the days back where Walmart was growing like gangbusters in the early SuperCenter days, but it's not reality. They have to adapt and there's fallout from that, which means we have to adapt too. I adapted by going to a company I felt had greater upside given my skill set and experience, and I was willing to relocate. As much as I liked Arkansas, it wasn't where I'm from so it was easier. Those of you complaining here and wishing for the good ol' days have to make that decision too. Complaining won't change Walmart's path forward, and money will always win out when companies have shareholders. It's reality. I wish you all the best in your paths forward.
Other than the school system, I can't think of any upside to continuing to live in NWA. Seriously, where else are you going to go for work? A vendor? Well, guess what, they're cutting back, too. Tyson? Wrong again-they're also cutting back. JB Hunt? Not sure of it's status, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're struggling, just like the rest of them. Sure, NWA has nice scenery, museums and jogging trails, but what good will those things do you if you don't have a job? Someone on this post compared Bentonville to Detroit. However, I will take it one step further and say that it's worse than Detroit, where you have ONE company dictating the growth or decline of an entire region.
I'm hearing mixed stories. Some say finding a job is easy. Others not so much.
what a shame. I am a 28 year associate, and planed to finish my carrer with this company. what a joke.I am embarresed to have worked here. Sam would be rolling in his grave knowing what this company that he worked so hard to build is doing. The people that are really getting screwed are the long term associates that believed in this company, and made it as big as it is today. Only to be turned over to a bunch of higher up money hungry bozos, that are being controlled like puppets on a string. We all know that walmart has a whole building full of lawyers that have found loop holes to screw associates out of every penny that they can. Why? look at our sales, look at our profit. Walmart can well afford to take care of the associates that have taken care of them for so many years. I agree with change for the sake of progress. However after all we have given to this company over the years we are nothing more than a number