Wal-Mart's New Software Schedules

Indicated in an article in The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart Stores in 2007 will create unconventional shifts for its 1.3 million employees using a new software system.

“The move promises greater productivity and customer satisfaction for the huge retailer but could be a major headache for employees,” the Journal reports.

Under the proposed plan, minimum-wage earners are expected to be on call several days per month, in the same fashion as hospital physicians or some IT workers, but without those professions’ more substantial compensation.

Critics contend that if implemented, the new system could make it impossible to schedule child care, meet family obligations or rely on a paycheck of the same size each week.

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The news has raised the eyebrows of investors, efficiency experts, workforce analysts and social philosophers. Commentators are broadcasting righteous invective as well as robust operations analysis.

Some Wall Street analysts applaud the move’s possible boost in efficiency. Nevertheless, these same analysts caution that it may result in lost revenue due to a drop in the quality of customer service, to say nothing of increased employee turnover rate.

They question the effectiveness of retail managers unable to schedule employees’ time properly in the first place, and advise finding ways to staff the right number of workers for customer loads without infringing on employees’ lives outside work.