‘Every Day Is Frightening’: Working For Walmart Amid Covid’s Impact
On her first day working for a company that runs retail stores, it was scary.
On her first day working for a company that runs retail stores, it was scary.
“I just walked in there was nobody there,” said Tia Johnson, an elementary school teacher who had been volunteering her time in the supply chain for a year. In her first days as a Walmart associate, she and the other workers were encouraged to wear masks. But her anxiety persisted: “It was scary,” she said.
These days, Johnson and the other workers are more at ease with their jobs. But they’re also more worried about how their work will get done, and their paychecks.
The retailer has been under constant pandemic-related scrutiny, and the president has threatened to close the entire company. That would result in a loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, a potential loss of tens of millions in economic activity, and a potential increase in the unemployment rate.
“It’s incredibly concerning as an employer to see these things happen right now,” said Amy Mallory, a Walmart employee in Indiana who has previously worked in retail. “With so much uncertainty and anxiety, it really shows that the future and the present are not the same.”
Over the past two weeks, the company has changed its own coronavirus-related health and safety guidelines, including requiring employees to wash their hands frequently and staying at least 6 feet away from customers outside. It has also closed all stores that sell electronics, and it has asked those who have jobs at that region to work from home, unless they have to go into the store.
Walmart’s new guidelines have been widely criticized, and some say they don’t go far enough.
“They don’t give enough respect to the seriousness of it,” said Mallory, who added that she’s still nervous to ask her boss to stay home when she hasn’t been able to do so.
In a statement to CBS News, Walmart defended its new guidelines, pointing out that its employees had been following them.
“At Walmart we are focused on the safety of our associates, customers and associates in our store and we have repeatedly said, and will continue to say, that we do not, and will not, tolerate any
