Mon, 02 Oct 2006

Wal-Mart to Add More Part-Timers and Wage Caps

I'd really like to pick on Wal-Mart here, but in reality the real problems leading to this kind of "solution" are much more widespread.

Start with healthcare costs: where is the incentive in the system to minimize them? Doctors certainly don't have one anymore, and neither do insurance companies, due to the sue-happy nature of patients who've been second-guessed and lose body parts. So the cost cutting falls on the ultimate payer, the company with the covered employee.

But of course that backfires, too, in bad PR (like this) and sick or unproductive workers. Medically speaking, this is cutting off your nose to spite your face!

It's an insoluble situation until drastic actions are taken - and those actions would be very politically painful. Don't hold your breath waiting to see serious healthcare reform anytime soon - but you can bank on seeing much more of this type of internal "reform" every day.

The company says the changes are to better serve customers. Workers say they reduce already modest incomes and strain employees’ personal lives.

(link) [New York Times]

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