The Friday Report: March 18th, 2022

Walmart Boosts Pay and 401K Benefit

The world’s largest company by revenue in 2021, according to August Fortune 500 rankings, Walmart announced that it is continuing as planned to hire 50,000 more workers by May 1st. In September 2021, Walmart pledged to hire 150,000 workers for the upcoming holiday season. Most of the jobs were anticipated to be permanent. According to the Wall Street Journal, Walmart did hire 100,000 workers in the year that ended in January.

Across its network of approximately 10,500 stores globally, Walmart employs nearly 2.3 million workers. In the United States alone, Walmart employs nearly 1.6 million workers across 4,743 locations.

To remain competitive with others in the retail industry, Walmart increased their starting wage to be on par with Target’s starting minimum wage of $15-24 per hour, now noting that their average hourly pay is now $16.40 per hour. In selected roles and locations, Walmart will now pay a starting wage of up to $30 per hour.

In addition, new associates can enroll in Walmart’s 401K plan on the first day of work. Walmart will match contributions of up to 6% after the initial year of employment

For more information, please continue reading here. 

Can Car-Free Sundays and Working from Home Conserve Fuel? 

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Paris-based organization which provides advice to governments around the world on energy policy, a decrease in the demand for oil can be achieved by encouraging specific behaviors. 

Here are a few of the suggestions from the IEA: 

1. Reduce speed limit on motorways by 10 km per hour (6.21 mph) 
2. Restrict cars from large cities on Sundays 
3. Encourage the trend of having employees work from home 
4. Encourage ride sharing 
5. Reduce business travel

According to IEA, implementing these policies could lead to a reduced demand of approximately 2.7 million barrels of oil per day within the next four months. 

Industry experts are concerned that the global market will have 3 million barrels of oil per day less, resulting in a supply crisis. 

For more information, please continue reading here. 

Tim Hortons Takes a Bite out of the Fast Food Breakfast Competition

Hold onto your muffins.  Fast food industry dominators Wendy’s and McDonald’s have a new challenger in the world of breakfast. 

Tim Hortons, originally a coffee and donut chain, has entered the fray.  Modeling their new offering on Wendy’s fresh cracked egg platform, Tim Hortons debuted its Steak and Egg Breakfast Sandwich.  This ramped up overall AM sales over 2019 levels for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.  The next step involved expanding their hot beverage offerings. With the addition of dairy alternatives, new richer, bolder recipes, and equipment to produce flavorful expresso-based beverages, Tim Hortons has seen upward lift in sales growth. 

Frequently touted as the “most important meal of the day” and exacerbated by an increased number of restaurants offering all day breakfast menus, consumers seem to have embraced the trend. By 2028, the global breakfast restaurant market is anticipated to reach $49.82 billion with an annual compounded growth rate of 6.8% over the forecast period according to Million Insights. 

For more information, please continue reading here.