What Exactly are These People Paid for Anyway?

If you've ever worked for that great big bundle of retail wonderfulness for any length of time, there is a good chance that while you were, they had a hiring freeze. A hiring freeze is just what it sounds like- for a time Walmart will not hire any one. Well.... almost,not hire any one. If a good friend of a manager gets in a jam, they have been known to bend a few rules. But right before the end of a fiscal quarter, or right before a huge company expense is expected, or sometimes, if the manager is trying to make sure his or her bonus is big enough, they will institute a hiring freeze. If you are silly enough to think that this means that the company has enough people to run the store, and they just aren't hiring any more, put away your crack pipe. What this means, is that Walmart doesn't care if they are under-staffed. No one is getting hired until they can do it without dipping into bonus money. For the average associate, the bonus doesn't mean anything. They'll never see the corporate bonus- they'll be lucky to find the manager who even admits this bonus exists. But for the average associate, they are going to be pulled in five directions at once as they try to cover all the work that is expected of them. Just because there aren't enough people doesn't mean that the freight is going to slow down, silly boy. It only means that you better get your butt in gear to get it all put away before it's time to clock out and go home. You also better be limbered up because you are going to have to cover at least three departments for customer calls, straightening shelves(zoning) and working freight. I guess you should just keep telling yourself that it will be worth it when the bonuses are passed out. Riiiiiight. But not to get too far off point, if a store has this many hiring freezes, what exactly does the personnel department do? I know they have many important papers to shuffle as they look too busy to come out on the sales floor and help with a crunch, but when there is a hiring freeze, what exactly can they be doing to fill their 8 hour days? They aren't interviewing people to work for the company,they aren't submitting paperwork for new hires, in fact the paperwork for regular associates has got to be a routine that they can finish with their eyes closed. So why is the personnel department eating up all those payroll hours when there aren't any new associates to process? And while I am asking questions- why doesn't personnel work when the associates work-that is to say the majority of the associates. If you have a set schedule of evening hours, or weekends, the personnel associates might be an urban legend for all the times that you'll see them. Why don't they have the personnel there when the associates need them to be there- say some evening hours and weekends? Why should an associate have to take time out of the rest of their life and come into the store because the personnel people work banker's hours? But enough of that rant. Good luck trying to get it fixed. Anna told me that she's been asking that in grass roots meetings, and now survey opinion polls, for four years. She's still waiting on an answer. I suggested she ask Bentonville directly. If they ever answer her, I'll let you know what they said. And you can thank me later.