Getting a Job at Walmart Is Harder than Getting into Harvard

According to the f**ing jerks at Forbes magazine, this indicates that jobs at WalMart are good ones, why else would people apply. The must know that there are almost 3 people out of work for each job opening, and that not all "job openings" are really such.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/19/getting-a-job-at-walmart-is-harder-than-getting-into-harvard.html

By Daniel Gross
November 19th 2013

Walmart is constantly in the news as a metaphor for what’s ailing America. On Monday, it was the news that employees had set up bins to collect food for needy employees at a store in Ohio. On Tuesday morning, we were presented with a Walmart-related news item that explains why the company can get away with paying so many so poorly.

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Earlier this year, in Washington, D.C., the City Council passed a law explicitly aimed at keeping Walmart out. City Council passed a law saying certain big box retailers would have to start pay at $12.50 an hour, 50 percent higher than the District’s $8.25 minimum wage. But in September, Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed the bill.

The veto paved the way for the opening of two stores, one on H Street just north of Union Station and the other on Georgia Avenue in northern D.C. early next month. And potential employees are enthused. As NBC’s Washington, D.C. affiliate reported “the stores will hire a combined 600 associates after combing through the more than 23,000 applications it received from potential employees.” That’s stunning. Walmart received 38 applications for every opening, making the odds of an applicant getting a job at Walmart far greater than getting into Harvard. And all this competition for positions that we know do not pay all that well.

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The unemployment rate in the areas of Maryland adjacent to D.C. was 5.2 percent. In the past year, the D.C. metroplex has added 33,000 jobs, or 1.1 percent of the total.

But that hides a reality in this economy. The labor market is actually several labor markets in one. And some of those markets are doing quite poorly, even in booming areas with comparatively tight labor markets. We know, for example, that in October the unemployment rate for people with bachelor’s degrees (or more) was 3.8 percent, while the unemployment rate for those whose highest level of education was completing high school was 7.3 percent, and the rate for those who hadn’t completed high school was 10.9 percent. Put another way, people who haven’t completed high school are nearly three times more likely to be out of work than those who have completed college. And people who haven’t attended college are twice as likely to be out of work as those who have completed college. Among African-Americans, the unemployment rate is 13.2 percent, while the unemployment rate for whites is 6.2 percent.

Slack in the labor market—and the continuing weakness of unions—makes it very difficult for all but the most skilled workers to negotiate higher wages. And the intense competition for positions at the lower rungs of the labor market mean companies can have their pick of candidates while offering comparatively low wages.

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Walmart said it hopes to open three more stores in D.C. in coming years, which will employ another 900 people. But the fact that the chances of getting a job at Walmart are far lower than the chances of getting into Georgetown Law School highlights a continuing problem.