Whole Foods Cuts Workers' Hours after Amazon Introduces Minimum Wage

[Megalith]

Amazon’s $15 minimum-wage increase didn’t turn out so well for Whole Foods workers: one employee claims the retailer has negated wage gains by reducing schedule shifts across many stores, cutting a lot of work. “My hours went from 30 to 20 a week. We just have to work faster to meet the same goals in less time.”

The Illinois-based worker explained that once the $15 minimum wage was enacted, part-time employee hours at their store were cut from an average of 30 to 21 hours a week, and full-time employees saw average hours reduced from 37.5 hours to 34.5 hours. The worker provided schedules from 1 November to the end of January 2019, showing hours for workers in their department significantly decreased as the department’s percentage of the entire store labor budget stayed relatively the same.

 

[hesho]

how exactly is this surprising?

 

[JNavy89GT]

The greedy imperialists needing to cover basic costs in order to pay their enlightened workers. Welcome to the progressive dream!

 

[capnstabn]

I will say the Whole Foods workers at the stores I went to had solid customer service skills. Its probably better these people look for bigger/better things anyway.

 

[[21CW]killerofall]

This isn't really news. Businesses are always asking their employees to do more with less.

 

[Comixbooks]

20,000 jobs created last month so yeah whatever improvements were coming were a slide show at best.

 

[45454asasa]

So it worked. Now they work less hours for the same pay.

 

[DocNo]

Wow, you mean you can't magically create more economic benefits via laws/fiat?

Who could have known that?

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

nope, never saw that coming in a bajillion years, not at all...

lolololol

 

[mwallek]

I would love to see the mega corps broken up. It's fairly obvious to anyone over 60 and not on the consumer path to glory and wealth, that the megacorps take wealth OUT of peoples hands. Things need to change or I will be supporting a hunting season on fat greedy corp executives. Bezos making in one minuite what I made in about 8 years -after taxes- is absurd and should be illegal. How's that for the joy of personal freedom?

 

[DocNo]

How's that for the joy of personal freedom?

Well at one point Bezo's was just a schlub like the rest of us.

Then he got off his ass and invented Amazon.

That's what makes America amazing - unlimited potential.

Here's a serious question - how is the existence of "megacorps" directly effecting you? You personally. Not some empty rhetoric, but a specific example out of how, let's say Amazon's mere existence is personally coming down into your existence and negatively effecting your economics or personal freedom?

 

[vegeta535]

It is what all these whiners wanted. Same pay for less work and they can still keep their welfare benefits.

 

[velusip]

The funny thing is that many food distributors in Canada were bracing when Amazon bought out Whole Foods as if tech giants entering the market would stir things up.

Nope. Same shit, different pile. Cuts to working hours is exactly what every other major food distributor is doing and they are all driving themselves into the ground. Meanwhile, local independent grocers are realizing how much slack there is in the market and just reaping the benefits.

 

[dewbak75]

I might be surprised if the same thing hasn't happened EVERYWHERE the minimum wage got jacked up like this.

 

[bugleyman]

So the worst-case scenario was the same pay for fewer hours of work? That definitely sounds like a disaster.

 

[jpcahn1]

November is probably the busiest month of the year for grocery stores with people stocking up for Thanksgiving. I bet the hours went down as a result of seasonality so much as because of this conspiracy theory.

 

[jevans64]

Well. Isn't that a progressive's role anyway... to ultimately get paid for not working. They can keep going and demand $400 an hour then work one hour a week. The single highest expense for an employer is payroll and they are always looking for ways to reduce it. Having said that, I'm benefiting from it. I got a 10% raise plus 3% COLA but they laid off a few slackers, so I have to work harder and work the same overtime I have been working for several years now. I have bought 85 ounces of silver bullion in the last two months with my ill-gotten gains. Cha-ching!!

 

[BloodyIron]

Reaganomics!

 

[iamjanco]

That or raise the prices of their wares, driving some customers away. Could be a good thing for obese America though.

Buy less, eat less.

 

[The Mad Atheist]

Enjoying your $15/hr now?
This is what you get!

That or raise the prices of their wares, driving some customers away. Could be a good thing for obese America though.

Buy less, eat less.

Worse, they keep the price the same and try to sneak the contents down. Bloody piss me off mid to late 2000s when you had stuff like ice cream going from 2qrts down to 1.5qrts for the same price.
I much rather see a price increase than quantity change. At least Blue Bell didn't pull that crap.

 

[tetris42]

Here's a serious question - how is the existence of "megacorps" directly effecting you? You personally. Not some empty rhetoric, but a specific example out of how, let's say Amazon's mere existence is personally coming down into your existence and negatively effecting your economics or personal freedom?

I've lived in West Virginia before, this is more or less how a megacorp affected me while the time I was there:

This wasn't where I was specifically, but you get the idea, I definitely saw what mountaintop removal was doing to the region. It certainly wasn't helping the water quality either. Citi was one of the biggest funders of mountaintop removal in that region, I think they qualify as a megacorp. I have family that lives in Louisiana, if you look at what the BP spill has done to the coastline in the south, the ecosystem has been completely ravaged there and still hasn't recovered. To ONLY evaluate actions of a company by whether it immediately affects you in your backyard is a very narrow view.

As for Amazon, you should know better than to know it doesn't work exactly like that. It's more like they avoid taxes normal retailers have to pay for decades, thus have a significant competitive advantage, that causes local retailers to eventually close shop. This leads to lower wages from increased competition for the remaining job in the region. Moreover, this dries up tax dollars so then there's not as much or not enough money for schools, roads, police, libraries, etc. That ends up affect you in hundreds of small ways if you've ever lived in a region like that the way I have. It's kind of invisible force almost. It's not just Amazon, it has many causes, but a company like Amazon is one of them.

I don't actually put the onus for all that on Amazon. They're playing the game of business by the rules that exist. That's traditionally the point of government, to have it represent the people so it can address problems with the rules when they get utterly lopsided. But see, that's where megacorps come into play also. Amazon spent almost $15 million lobbying last year:
https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000023883
That kind of money buys democracy. If every candidate running has been bought off, that's a pretty big blow to personal freedom also.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Price floors (like minimum wage) and price ceilings (like rent control) never work.

Whenever you try to fight the fundamental economic laws of supply and demand you are going to lose.

When you apply a price floor like with minimum wages, demand is going to drop and you are going to replace the problem of low wages with a problem of either fewer hours or higher unemployment.

When you apply a price ceiling like with rent control, demand is going to surge, and you are going to replace the problem of unaffordable apartments with the problem of not being able to find an apartment because none are available.

The problems of people not being able to make a living wage and afford living rent are real, and are ones we as a society should tackle, but when we do so we need to work WITH supply and demand, not against it.

 

[MookeMan]

Well of course they’re cutting hours. The CEO of Whole Foods took one look at the increase in the cost of insurance for his Ferraris. Do you think money comes from thin air?

 

[Lakados]

So just a few weeks back they raised prices to cover the cost of the wages now they are cutting hours as well .... Sounds like they are double dipping and using their employees as a scapegoat.

 

[wrangler]

Bezos ain't gonna take a pay cut.

 

[phawkins633]

I've lived in West Virginia before, this is more or less how a megacorp affected me while the time I was there:

View attachment 147257 View attachment 147258

This wasn't where I was specifically, but you get the idea, I definitely saw what mountaintop removal was doing to the region. It certainly wasn't helping the water quality either. Citi was one of the biggest funders of mountaintop removal in that region, I think they qualify as a megacorp. I have family that lives in Louisiana, if you look at what the BP spill has done to the coastline in the south, the ecosystem has been completely ravaged there and still hasn't recovered. To ONLY evaluate actions of a company by whether it immediately affects you in your backyard is a very narrow view.

As for Amazon, you should know better than to know it doesn't work exactly like that. It's more like they avoid taxes normal retailers have to pay for decades, thus have a significant competitive advantage, that causes local retailers to eventually close shop. This leads to lower wages from increased competition for the remaining job in the region. Moreover, this dries up tax dollars so then there's not as much or not enough money for schools, roads, police, libraries, etc. That ends up affect you in hundreds of small ways if you've ever lived in a region like that the way I have. It's kind of invisible force almost. It's not just Amazon, it has many causes, but a company like Amazon is one of them.

I don't actually put the onus for all that on Amazon. They're playing the game of business by the rules that exist. That's traditionally the point of government, to have it represent the people so it can address problems with the rules when they get utterly lopsided. But see, that's where megacorps come into play also. Amazon spent almost $15 million lobbying last year:
https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000023883
That kind of money buys democracy. If every candidate running has been bought off, that's a pretty big blow to personal freedom also.

So, that's a really long way of saying that no, it DID NOT affect you personally. That's almost anecdotal. Oh, and we're not supposed to be a Democracy, but that's a whole different kettle of smelt....

 

[likeman]

I preferred to be fired then have less hours (I have that option to just leave and work elsewhere, so if they drop my hours I just go somewhere els unless they restore my hours)

I been here for long time so they prefer to lay someone els off then me (and I prefer to stay as well)

 

[Micas99]

Armchair economists

 

[Skull_Angel]

Price floors (like minimum wage) and price ceilings (like rent control) never work.

Whenever you try to fight the fundamental economic laws of supply and demand you are going to lose.

When you apply a price floor like with minimum wages, demand is going to drop and you are going to replace the problem of low wages with a problem of either fewer hours or higher unemployment.

When you apply a price ceiling like with rent control, demand is going to surge, and you are going to replace the problem of unaffordable apartments with the problem of not being able to find an apartment because none are available.

The problems of people not being able to make a living wage and afford living rent are real, and are ones we as a society should tackle, but when we do so we need to work WITH supply and demand, not against it.

The problem isn't necessarily price floors and ceilings, it's the feel of necessity for them because corporations perpetuating the mentality of monetary gain over employee well being (ie; "They say I need to pay you more per hour, so now you're getting less hours."). Without a change in how the corporate world views/treats it's workers, third-party regulations will be necessary to try to improve their well being.

 

[tetris42]

So, that's a really long way of saying that no, it DID NOT affect you personally. That's almost anecdotal. Oh, and we're not supposed to be a Democracy, but that's a whole different kettle of smelt....

Here, I'll make it simple for you:

He asked how the existence of a megacorp affected me personally. Citi is a megacorp. It removed mountains where I used to live and polluted water around so I had to drink bottled all the time. And yes, of course that's anecdotal. What exactly do you think "personally" means?

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The problem isn't necessarily price floors and ceilings, it's the feel of necessity for them because corporations perpetuating the mentality of monetary gain over employee well being (ie; "They say I need to pay you more per hour, so now you're getting less hours."). Without a change in how the corporate world views/treats it's workers, third-party regulations will be necessary to try to improve their well being.

All corporations have legally binding fiduciary relationships with their shareholders. This means that if corporations do anything intentionally that does not maximize shareholder profits (within the confines of the law), they are violating the law and can and will be sued by their shareholders.

Corproations exist for one reason and one reason only, to make as much money as possible for their shareholders. You cannot rationally expect them to do anything else.

 

[nutzo]

The funny thing is that many food distributors in Canada were bracing when Amazon bought out Whole Foods as if tech giants entering the market would stir things up.

Nope. Same shit, different pile. Cuts to working hours is exactly what every other major food distributor is doing and they are all driving themselves into the ground. Meanwhile, local independent grocers are realizing how much slack there is in the market and just reaping the benefits.

What? Are you saying capitalism actually works? Who would thunk that?

 

[sadsteve]

That or raise the prices of their wares, driving some customers away. Could be a good thing for obese America though.

Buy less, eat less.

I've been seeing price increases in a number of businesses I frequent. I know a number of the owners personally and they all said the increases were due to the minimum wage increases. Kind of an expected outcome.

 

[Cranky1970]

I mean really ? What the holy fuck did you think would happen???

 

[Night_Hawk-19]

Come to BC Canada where highest cost of living and min here is 12.65 an hour. Making ends meet is far more difficult. Getting 15 they are ahead of curve. Just work 2 jobs to keep up.

 

[xmadror]

Come to BC Canada where highest cost of living and min here is 12.65 an hour. Making ends meet is far more difficult. Getting 15 they are ahead of curve. Just work 2 jobs to keep up.

At least you aren't in Québec where you'll give over half of your hard earned money in taxes.
(~40% taken from my pay check and a 15% tax (or more) when I buy anything)

I doubt its worse anywhere in the world but I could be wrong.
The cost of living might be lower but when you are left with only ~45% of your income I'd bet it's actually worse here

IIRC, minimum wage is 12.50$ an hour.

 

[Krenum]

Of course, that's what happens. Sure we'll pay you your magical $15 dollars an hour, but you're only getting 30 hours per week.

 

[Krenum]

So it worked. Now they work less hours for the same pay.

So....no raise! Its amazing!

 

[Iching]

Stopped shopping at Whole Foods a long time ago. ALDI and Trader Joe's all the way. Loyal German. Bezos can go fuk himself.

 

[EODetroit]

If I got the same amount of money for working fewer hours I'd be ok with that.