Walmart Increases Reliance on Temporary Labor
Company spokesman David Tovar said the new move came in response to store demand, ensuring "we are staffed appropriately" when stores are at their busiest, and not overstaffed otherwise. It also allows Walmart headquarters to avoid certain costs linked to the use of permanent employees, including mandatory health care coverage under President Obama’s new law.
Walmart terms these new, non-permanent employees “flexible associates,” which shows that while they are certainly part of the Walmart team, they are not always needed in stores.
Walmart’s growing reliance on contract labor illustrates the increased need across corporations in various industries for people to perform task- or time-specific work. It is not financially feasible for a growing business to hire full time workers for every general job.
In the Walmart example, hiring all of the labor they need at any given moment full time would result in either a surplus of bored employees for the majority of the day, or fewer overstretched workers during busy periods. All employees, regardless of whether or not they work full-time, receive the same wage. However, it is clear that with fewer hours comes less financially certainty.
Workers who may not have the education necessary for skilled labor rely on corporations like Walmart for steady employment, and cutting their store hours could be prove detrimental to their income. But the opportunity to work part-time in a store like Walmart is perfect for those with other skills or interests, including students.
President Obama’s new healthcare law may, in fact, be the catalyst for both Walmart’s and other corporations’ interest in part-time labor. The law, deemed “Obamacare” by the public, requires employers with over 50 full-time employees to offer insurance to employees, or face a financial penalty.
The distinction between full-time employees and all workers makes part-time labor seem particularly attractive to large employers like Walmart, as they are able to dodge health care requirements.
Obamacare goes into effect January 1, 2014, and while it will help millions of independent uninsured Americans get basic health insurance, the companies that will soon have to provide coverage for their many workers seem to be preparing for it to be prohibitively expensive.
Major American companies may very well switch much of their workforce over to contract labor. With this increase comes the need for a straightforward system to help with the administration of contract laborers.
