You don't hear people talking bad about Microsoft  or any other large corporation, based on their size, with the exception of the Big 3 automakers, and it's not even the employees complaining about them, it's everyone else complaining. Wal-Mart is evil, pure and simple.  It has so many employees because most of the low end staff don't have adequate educations to go out and get better jobs.  I f the people had educations then they would be smart enough NOT to work @ Wal-Mart.

Hey Jeff...I'm also a Walmart emplyee and right at Christmas they cut all the regular people's hours to add all the seasonal help...the result?  All the single moms had to choose between feeding  kids or keeping health insurance!  And the worse part?  Open emrollment doesn't come again until November so all those families have no health care now. Good for you that you are responsible and paying off your bills I think you are great for that!  I'm lucky too I work part time to pay off some bills I was stupid enough to get into and I have fun while I'm there but I feel bad for these single/divorced moms.

Hey Jeff...I'm also a Walmart emplyee and right at Christmas they cut all the regular people's hours to add all the seasonal help...the result?  All the single moms had to choose between feeding  kids or keeping health insurance!  And the worse part?  Open emrollment doesn't come again until November so all those families have no health care now. Good for you that you are responsible and paying off your bills I think you are great for that!  I'm lucky too I work part time to pay off some bills I was stupid enough to get into and I have fun while I'm there but I feel bad for these single/divorced moms.

Walmart would love to sell more merchandise that is  MADE IN THE USA.  The problem is the unions and their outrageous demands for excessive wages and benefits.   Manufacturing has been forced overseas due to unions and their unrealstic demands.  Why produce something in America, when you can produce the same item for 1/4 the cost in China?  Unions make it impossible for American companies to compete....just ask GM, Ford, and Chrysler.  Manufacturing companies can't compete when they have to pay unrealistic wages and benefits for assembly line jobs that are so "easy a caveman could do it" (my apologies to GEICO).  If you want to see more MADE IN THE USA merchandise at Walmart, the answer is simple...get rid of the unions.  They are corrupt, they breed mediocrity, and they prohibit American companies from competing with foreign companies.  

It's funny that you mention unions because if you watch the movie about Wal-Mart, then you get to see what lengths they go to prevent their own employees from forming unions.  Yes, the unions need to be broken up.  Just look at the Asian car makers with plants in the US. They use no union labor(lower wages), produce a better/longer lasting product, and will have a higher resale value.  I passed on my GM employee discount to get a Honda. It was  a better price, better MPG, better resale, etc. But back to the real topic here. It is all corporate greed. Nothing more. Nothing less.  Check out the movie "The Corporation" on www.youtube.com. There is also the afore mentioned documentary about wal-mart, and a movie called "The world according to Monsanto". These will all open your eyes to a much larger problem...

You know, Congradulations Walmart! You are the biggest retailer.... But I rarely shop there. I support my local businesses mainly because I know where my money is going. I guarantee that I will get WAY BETTER customer service from them than I do at any big box store. Yes, I may pay a bit more, but I don't care about price, I care about the service I get and that is what I look for. I shop with people, not places...

When you go into a Walmart, the help all look like robots to me.... At least the stores I have seen in my area.

Davis, read the information at wakeupwalmart.com then come back and comment.

I am reading a lot about corporate greed.  Corporate greed is the scapegoat.  The bottom line is that companies are in business for one reason...to make money.  This money (profit), for the most part, is returned where it rightfully belongs, to the investors and the executives that make wise business decisions.  Yes, there is corporate greed when high level execs receive large bonuses and golden parachutes after running their corporations into the ground (see AIG, Home Depot, GM, Hewlitt Packard for a few examples).  However, Walmart is very profitable.  The majority of the money should go to the investors and top level executives.  They are performing their jobs very well.  This is not greed...this is capitalism.  If WM associates were not happy with their wages/benefits then WM would have a difficult time finding help...they don't.  If the American public was not satisfied with WM, they wouldn't be the #1 retailer.  It sounds as if I am having a love affair with Walmart.  In realilty, I can't stand the place.  I have never worked there and I try to avoid shopping there.  However, too many on this BLOG are upset over their success.  If the auto industry or airline industry had 1/2 the intelligence of WM they wouldn't be begging for bailout money.....    

The negative bloggers don't really know what goes into bringing a product to market.

They are content with ignorance (kind of like an Atheist who refuses to enter a church and find out what all the hoopla is all about  ;-)  ).

Instead of growing a double chin why don't you get up and go see why the most successful retailer is just that?

Walmart has become the largest retailer for the simple fact that the economy, for whatever the many reasons are, has forced people to shop where they can afford to shop.  The majority of this country is suffering under the weight of the sagging economic system in this country.  Most Wal-Mart workers, but not all, lack the education to demand a higher wage career.  And without any form of higher education, you lack the bargaining power to demand better wages, benefits, etc.  Wal-Mart has become the largest employer because of the type of people that work there, the uneducated lower income population of America.  The job alternatives for this socioeconomic group are not much better that WM itself, and when you have mouths to feed and bills to pay, you suck it up and do what you have to do for your own situation.  Wal-mart pays its workers such a low wage, where do you think those people shop? WM of course.  Unless you are a white collar, salaried employee, you are going to get the shaft.  WM doesn't care, and why should they, because they have basically insured that this cycle will continue.  As long as the economy is bad, people will shop at WM, because thats what they can afford.  When the economy improves, and people aren't being smothered by the credit crisis that plagues this country(which will probably never end) then people can afford a choice.  As long as the peoples education is lacking, then they have no choice, and WM is the only option.  I understand that companies 1st priority is to make money, thats the nature of a business.  If WM paid their workers a decent wage, then service would greatly improve, and the workers might actually be proud to work there, instead of being economically forced to work there.  After all, there are only so many fast food joints and other places to work besides wal-mart.