‘Every Day Is Frightening’: Working For Walmart Amid Covid-19 Shutdown, Says Former Employee Read on to find out how some of the world’s biggest corporations are trying to survive the coronavirus disruption and their workers are having to work without pay.
With more than 4 million cases and more than 290,000 deaths worldwide, COVID-19 is the new global pandemic. So far, the U.S. is the most affected country in the world with more than 3 million cases and more than 80,000 deaths, according to COVID-19.
In the U.S., Walmart is one of the biggest employers with about 800,000 full time employees. More than 3,700 stores are operating as non-essential during the virus shutdown, including about 2,200 Walmart stores.
In fact, Walmart is operating stores with an average occupancy of 1,240 people during the shutdown, according to the company’s own data, compared to about 1,000 people at its busiest stores on Black Friday.
At Walmart, about 1,300 employees are at risk of being infected with the virus, according to the company.
“It’s scary,” said former member of Walmart’s health and safety committee, who did not want to be named. “Every day is frightening.”
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Walmart is trying to figure out how to continue to offer their services to customers during the shutdown.
“We’re having to figure out how to ensure that we provide the same experience to our customers,” said Brian Nick, Walmart’s senior vice president of global operations.
Walmart has hired 50 temporary workers to fill the gap in staffing, he said.
“This is a real time-consuming process. People are working here to figure out how to stay profitable and stay in business,” said Nick.
Walmart is still collecting data on how many of its stores are at risk of opening, Nick said.
He added that Walmart has not asked their employees to leave. Some workers have been asked to take unpaid
