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Pluses like flexible hours and profit sharing help companies compete in Pasco's tight labor market.
By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 5, 2001
A recent Fortune magazine survey ranked Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as one of the best places to work in the United States. That's good news for job seekers in Pasco County: The retail behemoth is in the midst of making 800 new hires for two supercenters it plans to open in west Pasco.
Wal-Mart executives say that benefits like profit sharing and stock purchase plans make it a place that its employees can brag about.
But for Holly Vazquez, 26, it's the chance to work a shift she can finish in time to pick up her two kids after school. "It's a very family type of atmosphere," said Vazquez, a shipping and receiving employee who will work 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the supercenter set to open at Little Road and State Road 54 on Feb. 28.
For Jack Jeffers, 64, it was "the friendliness of it" that drew him away from his job at Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse.
"When you sign up here, they ask you what hours you're willing to work," said Jeffers, a retired real estate investor who was recently hired as a Wal-Mart greeter. "I couldn't believe it. Have you ever heard of such a thing?" Other area retailers say that at a time when just 3 percent of the county's population is unemployed, benefits and a quality work environment are becoming more important than ever before in luring and retaining staff.
"In this type of market, everyone is looking for the same employee, and everyone is looking for loyalty," said Publix spokesman Lee Brunson. To encourage that, Publix lets employees buy stock in the employee-owned company after one year, and also offers a profit sharing program.
At Target, where local wages start at $5.75 to $6.25, managers stress that the company offers its employees high quality of life. Darren Aitken, an executive team leader for the store on U.S. 19 in Port Richey, says that every employee has every other weekend off, and no one works six-day workweeks -- not even during the Christmas season.
With the 800 people the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer plans to hire for its supercenter on Little Road and its store on U.S. 19 and Ridge Road, Wal-Mart will become Pasco's largest retail employer, surpassing Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. Once Wal-Mart staffs the supercenter it plans to open in Zephyrhills later this year, it will be tied with Publix as the county's second-largest employer.
In order to lure that many employees away from their other jobs, it takes Wal-Mart more than just offering $6 per hour -- 85 cents more than minimum wage -- to start out. After one year on the job, the company contributes to a 401(k) program for full- and part-time employees, regardless of whether they make their own contributions. Employees also are eligible for profit sharing after a year and can purchase Wal-Mart stock at a 15 percent discount. Employees also get 10 percent discounts on store merchandise. Part-time employees -- who make up about 20 percent of Wal-Mart's staff -- get medical and dental benefits after two years.
Two out of every three Wal-Mart managers started as hourly employees. Eric Hirons, manager of the supercenter on Little Road, started with Wal-Mart working part time pushing shopping carts in from the parking lot while he went to college. Hirons says it was that kind of promise for advancement, and the company's willingness to work around his schedule, that kept him there.
And it's what lured people like Vazquez, who left her job at a local manufacturer and even took a slight cut in pay to work at Wal-Mart. It was a small compromise to make to get a more flexible schedule.
"It just works out well for me," she said.
- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
-- Jennifer Goldblatt covers business in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is goldblatt@sptimes.com.