#6Things: USAToday, Wal-Mart Hiring and How Hard it is to be White

By Maren Hogan

You guys, my trainer is a sadist. I can’t even walk, let alone type…

And this is why I never shop at Wal-Mart

Because it only took about 5 seconds for the HR community to realize that this bonus and benefits bullshit was a scam. Not only does the bonus work out to about $50 per year (didn’t hear that only 20 year employees get it?), Sam’s Clubs and Wal-Marts all over the place are closing down (63, at last count). Thanks tax reform! Actually, the whole move was touted as a positive thing for Trump’s deeply unpopular tax bill. Check it:

Walmart employees are eligible for the $1,000 bonus only if they’ve worked at the company for 20 years. Most Walmart employees, of course, haven’t worked there that long. Those employees will receive a smaller bonus based on seniority. Walmart didn’t explain exactly how the sliding scale will work, but said the total value of the bonuses will be $400 million. Walmart has about 2.1 million employees, which works out to be an average bonus of about $190.

The one-time bonus Walmart announced this morning amounts to just over 2 percent of the total value of the tax cut to the company.

Here’s something else probs no employee paid attention to in the new tax bill:

Earlier Thursday morning, Walmart announced it would be using savings from new tax legislation to raise employees’ starting wages and offer bonuses to staff, including those who work at Sam’s Club. The lower corporate tax rate also means companies may reap more savings from layoffs than before.

Oh Calamity. At least their wages are skyrocketing from $9-$11 and they’re increasing maternity and paternity leave and contributing $$$ toward adoptions. I am still not gonna shop there though. Links retrieved from Doug Munro and Melissa Fairman (Business Insider)

What do @RecruitCyberDC and @HrRemix have to say about Wal-Mart's #HR? Find out here: Click To Tweet

Hiring is Up Tough

Which sucks because I need to hire and this article by Roy Maurer says entry-level hiring is going. to. suck.

More than 40 percent of employers in the Indeed survey said they worry they won’t be able to find the talent with the skills they need. “While a lot of the conversation surrounding today’s talent shortages is focused on the need to find highly skilled workers, the truth is that this issue impacts hiring at all levels,” said Kevin Walker, senior director of field marketing at Indeed. “In fact, 41 percent of companies say their entry-level positions are hardest to fill.”

Hiring for entry-level jobs is projected to be the toughest challenge for 55 percent of retailers and 52 percent of health care companies, according to Indeed.

Walker believes one reason for that difficulty lies with the lack of flexibility afforded recruiters “to sweeten the pot with additional money, better perks and stronger incentives” like they do when it comes to higher-level positions.

Oh well, if Wal-Mart doesn’t hire them, maybe they can work at Red Branch? The bonuses are better. (SHRM)

@SHRMRoy has a lot to say about #hiring trends coming this year. Take a look! Click To Tweet

LEAD ON!

Deb McGrath is being brilliant again. She’s launched the invitations for Disruptors and Influencers to join her (and Red Branch Media) at the LEAD conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. A long time ago, a very wise sage in our industry told me if I ever had the chance to go to one of these events, to take it! So, in class Maren fashion, I decided to help sponsor it instead! I am so excited that so many friends have been asked to be Influencers and Disruptors at the conference. (LEAD2018)

The Cielo Train Never Stops Chugging

Cielo is still moving forward, having just released the news they’ve acquired Talentify.

Talentify is centered on quickly connecting matched applicants with hiring managers, while creating more meaningful interactions in the process. FLUX by Talentify is the firm’s revolutionary first product; a technology that automatically attracts, screens, and schedules high-volume hourly candidates for interviews with hiring managers. FLUX by Talentify combines recruitment marketing, behavioral psychology and experience design to deliver dramatically different results – a better velocity, quantity and quality of candidate.

Congrats to founder and industry ICON Sue Marks. (PRnewswire)

Cielo is acquiring Talentify! Get all the details from @SueMarks: Click To Tweet

Speaking of Icons

Laurie Ruettimann is used to being HR’s press darling (Vox, NPR, etc, etc) but this week she gave a hell of a quote to USAToday:

Laurie Ruettimann, a human resources consultant in Raleigh, N.C., says that apologies like this are awful because they frame the victim’s experience through the eyes of the perpetrator.

“It’s great that Louis C.K. is sorry, and now, finally understands the pain he’s caused, but he gave up the right to talk about his feelings in public when he masturbated (in front of) female comedians.”

But she’s not done yet:

It’s a lazy excuse, Ruettimann says. “Powerful men have always been able to behave without restrictions, but working class people have always been routinely fired for inappropriate behavior.”

I do believe I’ll get that cross-stitched on a pillow. Shared by China Gorman (USAToday)

Free Learnin’

The CANDEs giver-outers The Talent Board (bigups to Elaine Orler, Kevin Grossman and Gerry Crispin) have a series of webinars to help you communicate with candidates and boost your employer brand. Register here. Shared by Shannon Smedstead (The Talent Board)

The Talent Board just put out amazing webinars that you can't miss! Get the latest from @elaineorler, @GerryCrispin, @KevinWGrossman and others: Click To Tweet

Questions Asked…

Here’s what people are talking about on FB, LI and Twitter.

• Bill Boorman thinks the LinkedIn User Agreement is interesting.
• Steven Parker asks: What are the top 3-5 attributes of successful HR tech companies?
• This hilarious thread on reddit provided by Steve Levy
• It ain’t easy being a white male conservative. HT Robin Schooling
• Jennifer Cunningham asks for Content Calendars and BOY do we deliver!
• ThriveHive – Alison Kruse
• Hubspot– Katrina Kibben
• Rally– Lori Sylvia