Jul 13, 2019
Rep. Paul Gosar is blasting the passage of a bill that will allow Indian nationals to monopolize the United States' green card system.
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Rep. Paul Gosar is blasting the passage of a bill that will allow Indian nationals to monopolize the United States' green card system.
As GM shutters at least four manufacturing plants in the US, nearly 400 American workers in supporting industries are also losing their jobs.
AT&T is continuing to lay off American workers across the United States after raking in an additional $20 billion from the 2017 tax cuts.
A South Dakota construction company imported foreign workers on the H-2B visa program in order to cut costs and pay lower wages.
The Obamas’ first Netflix release, “American Factory,” available beginning Wednesday on the streaming service and in select theaters, arrives at a ti
New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/walmart-boosts-starting-pay-closing-dozens-of-sams-clubs/66003/
Walmart boosts starting pay, closing dozens of Sam's Clubs
NEW YORK/January 11, 2018(AP)(STL.News) — Walmart confirmed Thursday that it is closing dozens of Sam’s Club warehouse stores across the country — a move that seems sure to cost jobs — on the same day it announced that it was boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers and handing out one-time bonuses to others.
The world’s largest private employer said it was closing 63 Sam’s Clubs over the next week, with some shut already. A company official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly said about 10 are being repurposed into e-commerce distribution centers. He said it was too early to say how many people would lose their jobs since some will be placed at other Walmart locations or be rehired to the e-commerce sites.
On Twitter, Sam’s Club responded to people’s queries by saying, “After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we’ve decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy.”
Walmart had earlier cited tax legislation that will save it money in announcing the higher hourly wages, one-time bonuses and expanded parental benefits that will affect more than a million hourly workers in the U.S.
Rising wages reflect a generally tight labor market. The conversion of stores to e-commerce sites also illustrates how companies are trying to leverage their store locations to better compete against Amazon as shopping moves online.
Online retailers typically pay warehouse employees who pack and ship orders more than store jobs pay. Job postings at an Amazon warehouse in Ohio, for example, offer a starting pay of $14.50 an hour.
“This is about the evolution of retail,” said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute. “The rise of e-commerce is leading to higher wages.”
Large employers also have been under pressure to boost benefits for workers because unemployment rates are at historic lows, allowing job seekers to be pickier.
But low unemployment has meant that retailers have had trouble attracting and keeping talented workers, experts said. Walmart employees previously started at $9 an hour, with a bump up to $10 after completing a training program. Target had raised its minimum hourly wage to $11 in October, and said it would raise wages to $15 by the end of 2020.
“They raised the minimum wage because they have to,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said. “The labor market is tight and getting tighter.”
Many small and independent retailers struggle to find workers even when they try to pay well and offer benefits.
Laurie Rose, owners of Olde Naples Chocolate usually has six workers during the winter months, the busy season in the resort city of Naples, Florida. But right now, she has just three. The store pays $12 an hour and offers a 401(k) account after a staffer has worked for a year, but Rose realizes that may not be enough for many potential workers. Rose would like to pay more, but she’d have to raise her prices and fears that would turn away customers.
While many department store chains such as Macy’s and Sears are struggling, retailers as a whole are still trying to hire. The retail industry is seeking to fill 711,000 open jobs, the highest on records dating back to 2001, according to government data. The longer those jobs go unfilled, the greater pressure on employers to offer higher wages.
Walmart, which reported annual revenue of nearly $486 billion in the previous fiscal year, said the wage increases will cost it an additional $300 million in the next fiscal year. The bonuses will cost it about $400 million in this fiscal year, which ends on Jan. 31.
“The wage increases will make a big difference to Walmart’s lowest-paid associates, but do not yet match Target’s commitment to raise pay to $15 an hour,” said the Organization United for Respect at Walmart.
It joins dozens of other companies including American Airlines, AT&T and Bank of America that have announced $1,000 worker payouts following the passage of the Republican tax plan that slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The companies say the bonuses they’ve announced are a way to share some of their bounty with their workers, though in some cases it’s a very small percentage of their gains, and are less valuable to employees than permanent pay raises.
“Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said Thursday. President Donald Trump cheered the announcement with a tweet, saying, “Great news, as a result of our TAX CUTS & JOBS ACT!” Walmart has invested $2.7 billion in higher wages and training for workers to lower turnover and make the shopping experience more appealing. It has done well and strengthened its hand in online retail as many other retailers have struggled.
The company said the wage increase benefits all hourly U.S. workers at its stores, including Sam’s Club. Hourly employees at its websites, distribution centers and its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters, will benefit from the wage increase. The one-time bonus between $200 and $1,000 will be given to Walmart employees who won’t receive a pay raise. The bonus is based on length of service, with workers with at least 20 years qualifying for $1,000. In all, Walmart employs 2.3 million people around the world, 1.5 million of which are in the U.S.
Parental leave has been another area in which retailers including Target and Ikea have been trying to offer better benefits. Walmart on Thursday promised full-time hourly U.S. employees 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave. Before, full-time hourly workers received 50 percent of their pay for leave. Salaried employees, who already had 10 weeks paid maternity leave, will receive more paid parental leave.
Maternal and paternal benefits can keep younger workers at the company longer, said Craig Rowley, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry Hay Group, a human resources consulting firm.
For the first time, Walmart also promised to help with adoptions, offering full-time hourly and salaried workers $5,000 per child that can be used for expenses such as adoption agency fees, translation fees and legal or court costs.
By JOSEPH PISANI and ALEXANDRA OLSON by Associated Press, published on STL.NEWS by St. Louis Media, LLC (US)
How much will Ted Cruz and the GOP screw you on Social Security? Thiiiiiiiiiiiis much.
Ted Cruz Panders To Seniors, Promises To Only Screw Younger Folks Out Of Social Security (VIDEO)
U.S. workers miss billions in retirement matches: study
New Post has been published on http://www.newsnish.com/international/u-s-workers-miss-billions-in-retirement-matches-study/
U.S. workers miss billions in retirement matches: study
U.S workers are losing at least $24 billion in retirement plan contributions each year by failing to take full advantage of company matches, according to recent research by 401(k) adviser Financial Engines.
One in four retirement plan participants misses out on some or all of the match, costing themselves an average $1,336 annually, said the firm, which reviewed the savings records of 4.4 million employees at the 553 companies using its services.
The missed amounts ranged from less than $100 to more than $20,000 for some highly paid, richly matched workers.
The rate of match-missing echoes those of previous studies, such as one last year by retirement plan provider TIAA-CREF that found 23 percent of those who contribute to a plan fail to get the full match.
But the Financial Engines study is the first to estimate the dollar amount of foregone matches, according to Greg Stein, the company’s director of technology. The survey extrapolated its findings to the 73.7 million employees nationwide who are active participants in workplace retirement plans.
Stein acknowledged that the $24 billion estimate likely is too low, since it does not capture matches passed up by workers who do not contribute at all to a workplace plans.
Only about half of American workers have access to a retirement plan and just under 41 percent participate in them, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit group.
Among full-time, full-year wage earners aged 21 to 64, 62.3 percent had access to a plan in 2013, the latest year for which figures are available, and 54.5 percent participated, EBRI found.
The vast majority of 401(k) plans offer to match employees’ contributions, most commonly matching dollar for dollar up to 6 percent of annual pay, according to payroll processor Aon Hewitt. The second-most-common match offers 50 cents for each dollar employees contribute, up to 6 percent of pay.
Younger and lower-paid workers are most likely to miss out on matching funds, Financial Engines found. Those paid less than $40,000 are four times more likely to get less than the full match, compared with those earning more than $100,000 (42 percent vs. 10 percent). Meanwhile, employees under 30 were twice as likely as those over 60 to miss out (30 percent vs. 16 percent).
Youthful ignorance can be the most costly, since the missing money would have had decades to compound. For example, every $1,000 not contributed to a retirement plan in one’s 40s means about $2,700 less in a retirement fund 20 years later, assuming 5 percent real returns annually. The same $1,000 contributed in one’s 30s might have grown to nearly $4,500. In one’s 20s, failure to contribute $1,000 could mean $7,300 less in retirement money.
Employers could shrink the amount of money left on the table by automatically enrolling workers in retirement plans at a default rate that captures the full company match – considered a “best practice” in the employee benefit field, Stein said. Alternatively, the default rate could be lower but automatically escalate over time.
Automatic enrollment has significantly increased employee participation in retirement plans, but many save less than they would have had they chosen a contribution rate on their own, according to studies by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and Vanguard Group, the financial firm.
Vanguard’s study of 2 million retirement plan participants found the average savings rate was 6.6 percent for those with automatic enrollment but 7.5 percent for those with voluntarily enrollment. The average default rate for automatic enrollment was 3.4 percent in the Boston College study, while the average needed to get the full company match was 5.1 percent.
Not surprisingly, Financial Engines also recommends providing advice to employees as a way to reduce unclaimed matches. The retirement adviser found that only 15 percent of employees who received advice failed to get the full company match, compared with 26 percent who received no advice.
Source: Reuters