Thread regarding Walmart layoffs

butt dogg muttmillions iz doin' grate werk . . . he's helpin' amuricants save money so they can leave better

@idy Great advice.

Bentonville should be treated as a stop in a long working journey, not as an end goal or destination. It may retain the official title of "home office", but all the changes look like the bulk of operations will be moved to other locations. Bentonville's actual role in the company will become smaller and less important over time, with most of the big decision makers likely being on the coasts.

I was part of the Home Office mass layoff of 2015. Was blessed 10 days later with a job lead that turned into a great job offer in another city. Sold my house for a slight profit and shook the Bentonville dust from my feet. Almost 3 years later, I can truly say that everything is better away from Bentonville. My advice: Work your network now and always. Stay in touch with people you know outside of the company. If you have been a good partner with your vendors, let them know you are looking. Most are more than willing to help someone who has helped them. Forget applying for other jobs in the company. This is a trick to get you to accept a step back and do the same job for less pay--oh, and a chance to do this all over again next year. If you do attempt to network internally, you'll be surprised how many of your internal contacts who managed to stay employed, and could potentially do something for you, are suddenly far too busy to take your calls. Many aren't trying to be mean--they just don't have anything for you and really don't know what to say to you. Accept all of the career advice from Challenger, Gray & Christmas they are offering. Above all else, look at this as a real opportunity (not the WM version of opportunity). You get to leave with a check, and take the experience you gained to another, hopefully growing, company. And three years later, you'll wonder why you stayed in Bentonville so long.

I don't doubt we're about to witness the implosion of the Benton County (and surrounding area) housing market. The realtors must be freaking out, Once the forced and voluntary exits from NWA start to take place, it's just a matter of time before the glut of homes on the market force other property values to dive, then it's all a nose dive after that.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the city of Bentonville’s economy tanks after 2 years of rolling layoffs from what was the largest employer in the area. What people do they think are going to be left to patronize the businesses and expensive-to-build community amenities? My husband was laid off & he quickly found a new job in a big city with a MUCH better workplace culture. AND it pays more.

@nlp, yep, the prison jail break, I believe it I heard the same! I spoke with some students last year who inquired about an Internship at HO, they visited HO. The overwhelming majority said Walmart didn't appear to care about their workers at the HO, that was their takeaway. How sad is that? They spent a few hours at HO and that was their feeling.

There is a disdain by leadership for the associates at HO that comes across not just to the associates who work there, but to people visiting the HO. Leadership is so accustomed to delivering the beat down to vendors and employees, they don't realize how hateful and negative they come across. No one wants to work in an atmosphere full of negativity.

What was it that was posted some time ago? "Bentonville is the new Detroit" ?

The real heartbreaker for me was getting from out of state college hires how depressed they were in NWA. They spoke of eventually getting out like it would be some sort of Shawshank Redemption prison escape.

I'd rather be on a plane each week with 80% travel than have a job at HO. There is so much opportunity in other areas of the US. Why would anyone who can do even 5 minutes of research about Walmart HO come to Bentonville? There is plenty of information about how crappy it is. They must be desperate.

The annual Hunger Games Event begins!

@eye Definitely understand. It's hard but one way to think of it is that your family or you moved to NWA from somewhere else for a reason. I bet that reason was opportunity.

If the proverbial watering hole has dried up, you either move or dry up with the viability. Maybe you're just the part of the family story of when the family moved to wherever there's more opportunity.

@vjq that just about sums it up right on target.

@fnr That's a perfect term "One-Trick-Pony". I might add, "The thrill is gone".

@eye I feel what you're saying. I urge you to take a lesson from the past, though. At it's peak, Detroit had a population of 1,800,000 people. Now it has 673,000. We all know what happened there.

Well some of us are natives. Our entire lives are here. All our family, history. It's not just that easy to pull up and re root. For those that can great but not everyone can do that.

@vjq Agreed.

Bentonville is for the most part a one-trick-pony. You can't rely on Walmart employment.

WIth the current culture and organizational direction I have no idea why anyone would lock themselves in by owning a house.

There's a lesson here. Get your resume updated. Get your home fixed up and on the market. Start looking for another job and sell your home before panic selling sets in due to a flood of homes on the market. Believe it or not, there's a lot of hiring happening all around the country. If you don't have a plan to get yourself out of Bentonville, then who's the stupid one?