Economists worry over the decline of the American consumer, but what about the decline of the American worker?
It's a story told in towns across America: middle-class jobs are vanishing. Where once there were steel mills and auto plants, abandoned factories and Wal-Mart stores now stand. Companies that once employed hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers are now manufacturing overseas, abandoning not just individual workers, but entire communities.
Wal-Mart, and the companies that copy its business model, are largely responsible for the loss of these jobs. Wal-Mart's demands for ever-lower costs have forced dozens of American companies to stop producing in the U.S. and move operations overseas, where labor is cheaper and safety regulations are lax. The company often justifies these business practices as a necessary evil, claiming to save consumers money on the other end. On the heels of one of the worst retail holiday seasons in recent memory because Americans are losing their jobs, losing their homes, trying to pay for health care and worrying about a recession, it is evident that Wal-Mart's logic is deeply flawed. At some point we have to face facts: more and more Americans are skimming the edge of poverty.
In the wake of massive factory closings across the country and the destruction of Main Street businesses, Wal-Mart is often one of the only employment options available. As a story from the Associated Press this week explains, Wal-Mart's jobs are often a last resort, and when people do apply to work at Wal-Mart, it's not because the company's a great employer; sadly, it is often the only employer in towns where the "Wal-Mart effect" has already forced manufacturing jobs to leave the area and small businesses to close.
Wal-Mart's business model relies on an economic model which eradicates American jobs and moves money overseas. The company's unsustainable economic practices embody the current race-to-the-bottom economy and American workers and communities are suffering as a result.
The real irony is that Wal-Mart stands to benefit from a poor economy here in the U.S. Some analysts are betting that as people face harder times, they'll be forced to trade down and shop at Wal-Mart. So, as Wal-Mart's negative economic influence comes full circle, instead of feeling its customers' pain, Wal-Mart may actually sell more. It has the makings of a dark comedy, only it isn't at all funny if you're an average American worker trying to get by right now.
Wal-Mart claims to be a friend of low-income shoppers, but the high costs of its low prices can't justify the damage it does to American workers and the economy. The U.S. needs sustainable jobs that pay fair wages and benefit workers and communities. Of course, Wal-Mart can't single handedly reverse the damage and jumpstart the economy, but as the nation's largest private employer with 1.3 million employees and $350 billion in revenue, it could offer some relief to its own employees with a fair, living wage and affordable, quality health care.
