Walmart has once again raised the minimum wage for all employees in the US. The new minimum wage is now $11 while the retailer has also handed out bonuses of up to $1,000. In announcing the move, Walmart credited it to President Trump's tax cut. Former President Trump's recent tax cuts aimed at businesses have vastly helped large corporations.
The reduction in corporate tax rate saw the retailer enjoy an unexpected benefit. Due to this, they were under political pressure to raise the minimum wage.
"Today, we use the investments we have invested in our people, their salaries, and their skills development," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in a statement. "It's our people who make the difference and we value their hard work to make it easier for busy families every day.
In his statement, McMillan continued saying that the tax reduction, "gives us the opportunity to be more globally competitive and accelerate plans for the United States."
During the same day, Walmart announced that they would be closing close to 50 Sam's Club stores, with many of them to be turned into online distribution centers. This move indicates that the retail industry continues to be difficult for many brands due to the rise in e-commerce.
The author of Wal-Mart effect, Charles Fishman said that Walmart is counting on strong growth over the next few years. He also said that this shows that the retailer "needed to improve his game to retain his staff and recruit new employees." "They have begun to change the way they treat employees because they can no longer take them for granted."
This announcement follows similar moves by many other companies in the US including AT & T, Comcast, and Wells Fargo. The latter raised base hour wages to $15. All of this is great news for lower-paid US workers.
The business world is hot on corporate social responsibility, also called CSR, right now. Huge companies are using it to show that they care about the environment and the impact that their ways of conducting themselves have on the planet. As an example, car companies are investing billions of dollars into electric vehicle technology. Many people are buying hybrid cars, or even going full electric. This change is removing CO2 emissions from gasoline engines out of the environmental equation. But what about the aviation industry? The battery-powered airplane is a very long way off, but they need to start somewhere.
American Airlines have done just that with their ban on single-use plastic straws and stirrers. When taking into account lounges and flights where these products are served with drinks, the airline has estimated that it can prevent the production of more than 71,000lbs of plastic. It's amazing how one small change can make such a huge impact.
Another huge corporation, Starbucks, has also said that it won’t be using straws made from plastic either. American Airlines will be replacing theirs with more environmentally-friendly bamboo together with the trays on which their meals are served. McDonald's is another company following suit, and certain hotel companies around the world are banning straws.
The airline knows that it is in a thankless position of trying to offset emissions in its industry. Huge volumes of toxic gas are an inescapable by-product of the very thing that they were set up to do, which is fly passengers to far-off destinations. Cleaner fuels can be introduced but they too are some time away from being the norm.
However, they’ve made a start. And as that CSR work continues with how they go about their business on the ground, they’ll be making good progress to control what they can, when they can.