Employees Expose Dangerous Walmart Working Conditions
Walmart employees have exposed the dangerous working conditions they are currently contending with at the stores.
Walmart is experiencing massive inventory issues this month. Recently, the massive retailer disclosed its quarterly earnings alongside a 32% increase in available inventory. Though having more products might not seem like the most significant issue, workers have complained about the highly laborious and excessive conditions they’ve been put through due to the situation. Walmart workers are complaining about opening endless boxes due to the inventory overstock.
Three unnamed employees at Walmart discussed the unfortunate situation occurring at their stores. Storage rooms are completely overstocked, with boxes piling up to the ceilings. The employees also stated that there are too many boxes for the allotted storage space, and many packages are being stocked next to the consumer aisles. Backrooms have become incredibly hazardous for employees to walk through, with many calling the storage rooms too chaotic to navigate.
The overstock issue at Walmarts nationwide creates problems for customers as well. With boxes spilling out into the actual store, stacks of packages have often blocked necessary facilities for customers to use, including breastfeeding rooms and bathrooms. Blocking necessary exits and bathrooms is highly hazardous for both customers and employees alike. With the inventory not able to be contained within the designated rooms, new issues have occurred that is being handled solely by employees, even though the responsibility to fix the problem should be placed on the higher-ups.
According to one anonymous Walmart employee, management has not stepped in to repair the overstock situation. The employee also stated that the inventory pile-ups are at their worst since the beginning of COVID, yet no one has had a solution to deal with the excessive inventory. The best Walmart executives have done is indicate that the inventory overabundance will be solved in a few fiscal quarters. Walmart delaying the resolution of the inventory issue only puts workers at a disadvantage. While employees are left to figure out how to store the incoming boxes, bathrooms and other necessary rooms are continuously blocked by overstock. Walmart executives’ blasé attitude around this issue is unfair to the workers suffering from unprecedented conditions.
Unfortunately, Walmart employees are preparing for the worst. One employee at a Minnesota location stated that their manager expects goods to keep arriving in bulk throughout the year. Many anticipate that excessive deliveries won’t stop until January or February 2023. Though this is a pragmatic guess, some believe the deliveries will continue until spring 2023. So far, none of the Walmart managers or higher-ups have had a concrete solution to halting the excess packages. The only solution employees have heard from management is to wait out the crisis.
How did Walmart’s overstock issue get so bad? A new inventory system may be responsible for continuous, unnecessary ordering. The system automatically orders products for the retailer, which is the leading issue for renewed product deliveries that are redundant. Receiving orders for goods already in stock has contributed to the massive overstock issue. Though many employees have discussed the issues around the automated inventory system, a Walmart spokesperson quickly diminished the idea that the new software was the problem.
