Wal-Mart rolls out scheduling software

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest private U.S. employer, is rolling out software that will allow the company to schedule workers based on the number of customers in stores.

Wal-Mart began testing the software last year and plans to install it in all U.S. stores sometime next year, spokeswoman Sarah Clark said Wednesday. All cashiers and customer service employees already use the system, she said.

The software assigns employees based on customer traffic rather than on a store’s sales, as was the case in the past, allowing the company to meet demand at peak times.

Groups such as Wake-Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch, which have lobbied the company to raise pay and benefits, have criticized the new method, saying it subjects workers to potentially fewer hours.

“Retailers as a whole are embracing technology,” said Rick Rubin, an analyst at Mercantile Bankshares Corp. in Baltimore. “It’s probably the right decision from a customer-service standpoint. It may not make employees all that happy.”

Clark said enough employees such as senior citizens and students were available to work late and weekend hours.

“The company has not asked any associate to change their availability as a result of this system,” she said. About three-quarters of Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million U.S. workers are full-time, Clark said.

Robert Angelo, director of the Rutgers Union Leadership Academy, part of the university’s School of Management and Labor Relations in New Brunswick, N.J., said he questioned whether Wal-Mart’s changes would benefit workers, “given their track record.”

“In some cases, flexible hours means less hours,” he said.

Improving customer service isn’t just about adding workers at busy times, Angelo said. It’s also means ensuring that people are working productively.

“This is one piece of a deliberate effort to cut benefit costs through more part-time employees,” said Nu Wexler, communications director at Wal-Mart Watch, which is a Washington-based coalition of labor, religious, community and environmental groups. The rollout was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Shares of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart rose $1.37, or 3%, to $47.55.