Wal-Mart Disputes Number of Possibly Illegal Layoffs
News emerged yesterday that Wal-Mart planned to lay off several hundred employees in its China stores. Now Wal-Mart is disputing those numbers, saying that its layoffs will be far fewer in number, but not because the company cares about preserving jobs. From the International Herald Tribune:
Wal-Mart Stores, the largest retailer in the world, said Monday that a reorganization of its global purchasing center in southern China will result in 110 jobs being made redundant, rejecting a media report it plans to fire 1,200 people. Wal-Mart’s Global Procurement unit, based in Shenzhen city, “decided to reorganize some of its operations to realign some of the existing resources and use technology to enhance efficiency,” the retailer’s China spokesman, Jonathan Dong, said. Dong said the 1,200 number cited in a newspaper’s report was “inaccurate.”
The company’s quick correction of the numbers in that article might have something to do with the fact that the firings are possibly illegal. China’s labor laws are due to change in 2008, requiring (among other things) higher pay for workers. Firing workers and then rehiring them with different contracts would avoid this requirement. More from China.org.
Suspicious firings ahead of new labor law [China.org]
The rumor mill is churning as industry giants including Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, LG Electronics, and Wal-Mart China carry out drastic domestic work cuts just before the enactment of the Employment Contract Law on January 1, 2008. On October 22, the Wal-Mart Procurement Center ordered its Chinese branches to cut about 100 employees in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Putian, and Dongguan stores. Shenzhen-based Huawei asked over 7,000 employees working for more than eight years to voluntarily resign before next year, offering one-to-three-year contracts with some after the resignations, China Business News reported on November 5.
According to the Employment Contract Law, employees who work for 10 years in a company may sign flexible-term contracts with their employers, and industry insiders believe the new law is the driving force behind this sudden round of firings. However, almost all major companies firing employees at the end of this year denied that the adjustments were related to the Employment Contract Law.
Officials from the Wal-Mart Procurement Center explained the move was just part of the center’s global human resource strategy, while LG Electronics said it was a tactic for the company to secure higher status in the industry. Most employees that LG let go had worked in the company for about five years and were fired after their contracts expired. Meanwhile, Huawei said the human resource restructure aims to enhance the company’s competitiveness, according to China Business News.
Although these companies are itching to make clear their motivations, experts and industry insiders see things in a different light. “Labor costs will be increased and it will be difficult for companies to fire employees after the legislation is ratified next year,” said an anonymous human resource manager from a multinational company.
The new law, which regulates probation periods, contract terms, and company liabilities, aims to erect stronger legal protection for employees. Companies have been compelled to rebuild talent pools as the new law challenges human resource management, according to Zhang Mingjing, a lawyer from the Shanghai Huarong Law Firm.
It is understandable for companies like Huawei to enhance competitiveness by asking veteran employees to resign and signing short-term contracts with some of them, said Yang Xihong, general manager of Guangzhou Ruiqi Human Resource Co Ltd. “However, it conveys a negative image and magnifies misunderstandings of the new law,” he added. Spreadtrum Communications Inc, China’s Nasdaq-listed 3G solution provider, slashed its workforce in the same month as Huawei, one of the biggest telecommunication network providers in the country.
Although China Business News revealed Huawei offered compensation packages totaling about 1 billion yuan (US$134.16 million) for those asked to resign before next year, experts believe the move is meant is to avert liabilities required by the new law.
“The Employment Contract Law was set up to enhance companies’ innovative abilities in the long run,” said Ye Jiaguo, deputy researcher from the Companies’ Social Duties and Public Service Research Center at the Guangdong Social Sciences Institute. “The economy will be trapped in a vicious circle if it relies too much on a cheap labor force. The increase of labor costs will force companies to pay more attention to innovation and employees training.”
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, November 06, 2007







COMMENTS
WALMART= LOW LIFE FOREVER. SCUMBAG BOTTOMFEEDERS
oo in
Tuesday, November 06 at 01:20 PM
k-mart the place that abuses workers and treats them like crap and imports the same crap walmart does so shut up.
matthew vantress in gresham oregon
Wednesday, November 07 at 07:55 AM
k-mart the place that abuses workers and treats them like crap and imports the same crap walmart does so shut up.
matthew vantress in gresham oregon
Wednesday, November 07 at 07:55 AM
matt so you got fired from k mart so what
oo in
Wednesday, November 07 at 10:11 AM
matt you are at the wrong site. Your complaint belongs at K-martwatch.com Unless you are here seeking to glorify walmart for PR purposes. Worker abuse seems to be acceptable to you from your walmart point of view.
Ronnie in New Mexico
Wednesday, November 07 at 03:05 PM
If only walmart was smart enough to allow me to use my union busting talent on these Chinese wage earning bastards instead of Americans, then I would still be a hero in Bentonville rather than going to prison as a fat crooked hick.
Tom Coughlin in casa de imbecile
Wednesday, November 07 at 03:55 PM
What kind of people work in Wal-mart US? How many of them hold bachelor degree?
Reducing employee is a strategy of cutting cost. Beijing is one of the most flourishing city in China. However, wal-mart stores in Beijing don’t have good sales performance. In fact, numbers of empolyees in wal-mart china stores have been reduced.
Beijing girl in Beijing, China
Thursday, November 08 at 03:18 AM
if you dont like what i say then too bad ronnie.ronnie are you here to tell me that no other company besides walmart has ever been accused of or has mistreated its workers?ronnie the only time folks like you ever bitch and whine on worker mistreatment its walmart,but if its one of your favorite stores you are as quiet as can be explain that to me because i can never get a straight answer out of you walmart haters on here why you dont raise the same fuss and complaints about your favorite stores doing the same things walmart does.i have never said worker abuse is acceptable.get your head out of the sand ronnie.worker mistreatment iswrong i dont care what company it is,and you cant sit here and tell me that no other company in america has ever mistreated its workers in the past or has ever not been accused of it.
matthew vantress in gresham oregon
Thursday, November 08 at 06:03 AM
if you dont like what i say then too bad ronnie.ronnie are you here to tell me that no other company besides walmart has ever been accused of or has mistreated its workers?ronnie the only time folks like you ever bitch and whine on worker mistreatment its walmart,but if its one of your favorite stores you are as quiet as can be explain that to me because i can never get a straight answer out of you walmart haters on here why you dont raise the same fuss and complaints about your favorite stores doing the same things walmart does.i have never said worker abuse is acceptable.get your head out of the sand ronnie.worker mistreatment iswrong i dont care what company it is,and you cant sit here and tell me that no other company in america has ever not mistreated its workers in the past or has ever not been accused of it.
matthew vantress in gresham oregon
Thursday, November 08 at 06:05 AM
Beijing Girl --
On a different thread I asked how a person could find out about a worker in China, and happened to see your post on this threading blog.
In a box of electronic RF modulators from China to Wal-Mart in it was a woman’s ID card, some pictures, an orgami made from a Yuan (also says ZNONGGUO RENMINYINHANG on the back of the money). A 2007 calendar .
On the front of the ID in a red circle on the upper left is like a flower circle with NFE in the center. On the back of the white ID card is indented the name MANGO. Also at the bottom are numbers --0000879933 013.27965
I thought some of it might be a keepsake and wanted to return if I could.
Thanks for your help.
Art LeBeau in
Friday, November 09 at 02:23 AM
The Real Mystery Is...
What are you doing with a box of RF modulators made in China that was for Wal-Mart, Art? Was this sent to you by mistake, or do you do business The Beast?
ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Friday, November 09 at 09:45 AM
Beijing Girl—I have just read elsewhere where you are not a girl in Beijing, but that is just a name that you use so that a person would think you were from China. I am sorry that you do that for I had hoped I could have learned how to get the items back to that worker.
It is not really nice to deceive us on here.
Art LeBeau in
Saturday, November 10 at 01:20 AM
Have you tried the ‘Contact’ option at Wal-Mart China, Art?
Ken V in Texas
Saturday, November 10 at 04:13 AM
Sorry Art!
Here at WAL-MART WATCH we try to stay focused on the fight against Wal-Mart.
While I’m sure your intentions are admirable, we can’t help you with your fetish for Asian women with small feet.
You can continue to hang around, but only if you’ve got something nasty to say about The Beast!
ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Saturday, November 10 at 09:03 AM
To Mr. Ken V of Texas. Thank you very much for the link and I was able to e-mail a company in China that is going to help. Your link is appreciated.
To the childish girl or boy who uses the handle Screwed by, let me address your impudent remarks. If you wish to know why I had a box of modulators, then ask in a civil manner and I might answer.
I also do not know who you mean by the beast and if I do business with him or them.
Now sir or madam, what is the purpose or intent of your remark in paragraph two of your post above?
I don’t appreciate as such and you surely would not say to my face. Incidently you know my name—can you be a man or woman and state who you are. I will also tell you that I live in Villa Ridge, MO. Now let’s see how open you are, or do you need to hide behind a facade.
Who is the beast that one has to say “nasty” remarks about?
Sir or Madam at this time my “nasty” remarks are addressed to you hiding behind some ones skirts with your pseudonym. Be of courage and tell us who you are?
Maybe you can even tell us how you were screwed by Wal-Mart—we would like to know.
Art LeBeau in
Sunday, November 11 at 01:17 AM
The beast is(WALMART)
JOE in
Sunday, November 11 at 11:40 AM
Mr. Le Beau: If I may :At first glance, I too had the same reaction to Screwed’s remark -"That you can only hang around....” and thought ,"What effrontery-Who died and appointed him God of the Blog??” I thought your concerned posts injected an (un) common decency and courtesy rarely seen on this site,and a welcome one,at that! However, as one very recent to blogging, myself,I know that sometimes the written word sometimes loses in translation the intent or the tone originally intended, and also, that deception ( for selfish motives) seems to be more common than one would hope or expect to encounter.
ddrb in
Sunday, November 11 at 03:52 PM
Art Lebeau - Screwedbywalmart is a male, named Tom Boese and he lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He hates the chinese and you wanted to help one of them, so he has to put you down for it. They are ‘communists’, you know. He’s a modern day Joe McCarthy.
jerry in
Monday, November 12 at 02:16 AM
You all need your Sarcasm Detector calibrated.
Ken V in Texas
Monday, November 12 at 05:36 AM
Ken V in Texas: Evidently there is a need for sarcasm detectors.There is a market niche not being filled here--can you supply them or perhaps suggest an outlet to obtain them? Perhaps we could depend upon your for correct calibrations-Please provide specifics as to cost ,address,method of shipment.Thanking you in advance for any and all considerations. That was,Kenzu Callibrators,correct?
ddrb in
Monday, November 12 at 11:56 AM
P.S. Also,could you please include info as to the levels of detection-what is the highest and lowest levels that can be read?(Some of the sarcasm is so weak,its barely noticeable.)
ddrb in
Monday, November 12 at 12:25 PM
To close this out, I wish to add:
Joe in - thanks for informing me that the “beast” is Wal-Mart,
as I always associated the beast as being Satan, except for movies that employ that name.
ddrb - Thanks for your remarks of Nov 11th, as they are interesting and to the point.
Jerry in—thank you for telling me that “Screwed by” is a man named, Tom Boese. I am somewhat puzzled as to why Tom would not answer and give his name to my question.
Screwed by (Tom Boese) why would you not give your name,. are you not proud of it? Secondly I honestly would be interested in how you were “screwed by” Wal-Mart? Did you work for them/ or do you still work for them? Thanks in advance for your honest answer, as I believe it would give credibility to your posting if one knows the truth.
Art LeBeau in
Monday, November 12 at 01:10 PM
That is the point Satan=wal-mart=love of money is the root of all evil. Thats why they call walmart the beast,just plain evil.
JOE in
Monday, November 12 at 05:20 PM
TO Art LeBeau
I don’t deceive anybody. “I am sorry that you do that for I had hoped” What did I do for you?
A ID card is very important. If you got a woman’s ID card by accident, you can return it to the home address indicated on the ID card. However, maybe the person’s current address is not the one in the ID card, if she is NOT a resident from Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. If you don’t understand Chinese, you should ask a Chinese to help. The ID number is also useful. The first three numbers indicate the province or city code, the second three numbers indicate the district code, the following eight numbers the birth date, and the last four numbers perhaps a random number. Beijing resident’s card number starts with 110101,or 110102, or 110105, or 110108 etc. I am not familiar with other card from other province or city. I am sure the number--0000879933 013.27965 is not a Chinese ID card number. The best way I recommend is that you should contact Public Security Bureau in China, such as www.bjgaj.gov.cn, because they have right to issue the ID card.
I don’t deceive anybody. I don’t tell anyone here that I am woman or man. After we white down our comments, we indicate our name in the “name” blank. I suspect that you are a Wal-mart Spy who want to know where the posters here co
Beijing girl in Beijing China
Tuesday, November 13 at 04:15 AM
To Art LeBeau
I suspect that you are a Wal-mart Spy who want to know where the posters here come from
Beijing girl in Beijing China
Tuesday, November 13 at 04:20 AM
Beijing Girl --
I tried the website you posted and when it came up everything was in Chinese. Immediately I put on my dark glasses and went into my, Wal-mart Spy, mode and punched #2 for English. Nothing happened.
I suspect that you alerted them that a “Wal-mart Spy” would attempt to contact them.
Perhaps, I still will be able to get these items back to the owner. If it never happens then I have a “Yuan” for my efforts.
Art LeBeau in
Tuesday, November 13 at 04:36 PM
Art LeBeau—there is a english version of the website I have posted. Look at the upper right corner. Or go to http://www.bjgaj.gov.cn/epolice/index.htm. That is only Beijing municipal public security bureau. They have right to issue Beiijng resident’s ID card. I don’t know where she comes from, and her household registration. So I don’t know which municipal public security bureau you should contact.
If a Chinese lost her ID card, she has to get a new one. But her ID card number cannot be changed. The procedure is complex and it will take a long time. So she has to use a temporary ID card until she get the new one.
You can contact the Wal-mart China, if she is a associate of Walmart China.
Beijing girl in Beijing chiina
Wednesday, November 14 at 07:49 AM
Well I just found this page and all I can say is drama. I don’t have a personal vendetta against Walmart. Never worked for them. However just last week I saw a documentary on Stars about Walmart and how corrupt they are. It is extremely disturbing and I’ve chosen to no longer shop there. As for all of the dramatic side conversations, let it go. No one on here has any right to judge anyone except Walmart. Isn’t that why we are all on here in the first place?
Jessica in Missoula, MT
Thursday, November 15 at 11:56 PM
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