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4/15/2013 3:15 PM ET | By Bobby Shields, as told to Marilyn Lewis, MSN Money

Why I work at Wal-Mart

A retired electrical engineer explains how he ended up working retail after a career in the automotive industry.
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I'll be 64 in December. I worked as an electrical engineer in the automotive electronics industry for 35 years at Delphi in Kokomo, Ind. I unexpectedly retired in 2007. The company was going into bankruptcy and getting new management. They were trying to figure out how to downsize, and they offered me an early retirement. In the next three to five years I definitely would have retired anyway. My wife, Jackie, was a teacher. We grew up in Orlando, and we are probably the only relatives of our immediate family that moved away. We had always intended to move back in retirement. So, after my retirement, I worked as a contract engineer in Kokomo for probably six months. In 2008, after Jackie finished out the school year, we moved back to Florida so we could help out our parents and enjoy warm weather. Now we're 18 miles outside of Orlando, in Winter Garden. After I retired, things got a lot worse at Delphi. The company completely went into bankruptcy. With the early retirement, they had bumped up my pension payments to what I would have made at the age of full retirement. Then the pension fund was taken over by the (federal) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., and they said, "We're going to cut your retirement by approximately 34%." They raised my share of the health insurance costs, too. I went from paying about $100 a month for my wife and me to paying $1,300 a month. We were blessed to be in a situation where we were OK. We always knew that you need to have six months of savings to withstand these catastrophes that are going to happen in your life. But we couldn't sustain ourselves in this mode. I needed to work, for health insurance if nothing else. When I was shopping one day in Wal-Mart, I think the Lord put it on my heart to say, "Why don't you put in an application?" It probably took 20 or 30 minutes. I told them I'd work anywhere in central Florida. In about a week I got a call from a store in Sanford, probably a 35-minute ride from home. They needed a cart pusher, somebody to bring the carts in. During the interview process I talked with three or four different managers. The last one was the store manager. Based on what he saw in the application, he said to me, "You're not a cart pusher. You'll do better in electronics." He was right. I liked electronics, and I've always been involved with consumer electronics.

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My store now is a Wal-Mart Supercenter, in Orlando. The job is definitely different from what I grew up in. I was an electrical engineer and became a middle manager in the Delphi organization. I did have some customer interaction: I would talk with General Motors, Ford and other automotive members about using our products, or how we were going to solve product problems. But the retail sales environment is different than being in the technical world. It's probably the toughest job I have ever had from the standpoint of dealing with the public. The public expects me to know more about the products, certainly, than they do. And they expect us to have the products they need at all times. With a customer walking in off the street, you've got to earn their respect. I've got to be able to show them that I have a knowledge in electronics and that I can get them the product that's best for their needs. Once I understand what they need and how they're going to use it, if I can describe what's in that laptop and explain to them that item A is better for their needs than item B, usually they realize, "He knows what he's talking about." That's probably the enjoyable part, discussing with customers and getting them the right product.

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4/11/13 1:14 4/4/13 3:39 I also like the interaction you have with the employees. We're all from different backgrounds. I'm one of the oldest employees in the store. Interacting with younger people is 1 of 3 good. The younger associates see how I work, and I think that rubs off. I might see a 24-year-old sales associate watch me talking to a customer, and later I hear him repeating some of the same things to his customers.

My health insurance for my wife and me through Wal-Mart is about $300 monthly. Having the health insurance is such a big benefit at my stage that it's really worth more than dollars would say. Also, I get a Social Security stipend once a month as long as my income from work doesn't exceed a certain amount. I'm probably working in the range of 35 to 38 hours a week. Wal-Mart will give me as many hours as I can tolerate. So, I would say it's good now. We aren't having to dip into our 401k. Jackie does a lot of volunteer work and helps out with her mother. She had stayed home during our childbearing years, so she didn't have 35 years of pension accumulated. My plan when I started at Wal-Mart was that I would work until both Jackie and I could get to Medicare. She is two years younger, so that means working to 68. I might consider working beyond that time. I like to be organized. I like schedules. Before my Wal-Mart employment I was mowing our parents' yards, and I did some tutoring on the side, but I wasn't fully occupied with anything. Looking back on it, I think I didn't have the kind of structure I wanted. Americans 55 and older make up nearly 22% of the work force, up from 15% a decade ago, and many of them work at Wal-Mart. The retail chain is the nation's largest private employer by far, with about 1.4 million people on the payroll, earning an average of $12.67 an hour. About 400,000, or 29%, of Wal-Mart's workers are 50 or older. More on The New Face of Retirement: Health care needs delay retirement Why seniors work: for the money, of course Why some companies love older workers

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456 Comments
NEWEST OLDEST BEST WORST CONTROVERSIAL

jnormandyer Now, this is a man I can admire. The world is not fair and there are no guarantees and there is HONOR in work.

Apr 16, 2013 12:07AM

Replies (10)

M0t8G

Apr 16, 2013 1:05AM

I worked at Wal-mart for a little bit in college, and while it was definitely not my dream job and I was not sad to leave, I can honestly say I didn't mind working there. The manager, at my store anyway, was so nice and all of his employees knew him. I loved the stability of it-you knew your schedule at least 2 weeks ahead of time and were held accountable to work those hours, you had to clock in on time and were required to take your breaks. Pay was always on time and you knew it would be directly deposited as soon as it came in. The part I hated most were rude customers, which can be expected in any retail situation, but I felt that Wal-mart customers automatically assume that Wal-mart employees are stupid or beneath them since we were working there. I was snapped at, whistled at, yelled at etc. If you are a customer there be kind. They are employees working to support themselves or a family. At least they are working! It is not a glamorous job, but a job is a job!

Replies (5)

monohoony.yahoo.com

Apr 15, 2013 8:24PM

i have worked for wal-mart, and all he says is true. .sure, there some bad stores just like any company. .some great ones too. .they pay you what you are worth. .and that is a problem for some. .many just want a large paycheck for doing nothing. .those kind will never be happy. Replies (14)

Middle Class102 I am not a fan of Wal-Mart but I an happy it worked out good for this couple. Replies (2)

Apr 15, 2013 8:35PM

Moneychanger52

Apr 15, 2013 10:36PM

My first wife worked for Wal-Mart in Melbourne Fl. She died of ovarian cancer, Wal-Mart paid for two very expensive operations and all medical bills, without a question. She worked there for less than 2 years .Our local Wal-Mart has the same employees for the 13 years I a have lived in Silver Springs, FL. They are happy and serve their customers with a smile. How bad can Wal-Mart be? Replies (6)

Biggest Wal-mart Fan

Apr 15, 2013 9:00PM

I have found that some of the senior personnel or managers in the electronics depts @ Walmart are excellent and extremely knowledgeable. about their products, especially cell phones/contracts capabilities etc. I'm a volunteer for poor folks and blind people and they are well served @ Walmart. AND I have to say this. I have volunteered for 5 years at our local food bank. Every day, we send a truck to 1 of our local Walmart stores for a full truckload of every kind of food for the 85 families per day that we serve in just our community in West Richland. to include homeless shelters and the county jail. I have asked personnel in the checkout line @ Walmart how they like working at Walmart and have received responses generally like "I am so grateful to have a job" Replies (0)

motrin

Apr 15, 2013 8:49PM

I too ended up working for Wal-Mart for similar reasons. I was only 25 at time but needed health insurance for wife and kids. I ended up in the Tire and Lube center because of my mechanic background. I agree there are some good stores and not so good stores there are 2 supercenters 20 minutes apart and we have 1 of each. My experience was over all good. I did get to go to the lube rodeo in Arkansas. If you hire good people you get good results. Replies (2)

oldman6 put in. That's at any job. Replies (1)

Apr 15, 2013 8:34PM

I have never worked for Wal-Mart, but for many orhers and all I can say is that you get out, what you

koz42

Apr 16, 2013 7:18AM

Something that will get you through life is being flexible, tolerant and the ability to work rather than take. Older workers are used to doing a job and taking pride no matter what it is. Replies (3)

letsgo21

Apr 15, 2013 9:05PM

most young people either don't show up for work call in or don't want to work more than 3 days a week and 4 hours a day Replies (4)

Dave Jeffers (betteroutlookonlife)

Apr 15, 2013 9:41PM

I worked at wal-mart for 6 years before retiring Prior to that I worked for myself for 27 years and paid into my retirement Whole life insurance $386. a month for 25 years was to have 1.5 million at age 62, I left walmart at 62 and took early S.S. and 3 month later I got a check from a bankrupsy court for $6,120. the insurance company went belly up Inever heard of that ever thats why I baught Whole life. If I had known what was going to happen to my $1.5 million I would have stayed at walmart. I liked working there and I had some great customers, I was pet dept. manager and I had customers from over 70 miles away come all the way to our store to buy Fish because as they said I get LIVE fish not dead my tanks were very clean and I took pride taking care of my pet friends. I had a lot of P.R. with people because of my business of 27 years & 14 years in real estate. , I could have stayed in real estate but lets face it the last few years have been sour in that business and the cost for realtors at the office and continued license costs along with advertising costs it just was not fun. I put in my application at 10 am and before I got home I got a phone call to come see the manager at the store so I did and was hired on the spot for night crew freight handling & stocker, did that for 3 years before the manager wanted me to take over electronic but I said I was not interested in that but I would take pets and I got that and I increased that dept. sales over 40% in the first year. I loved that job and the customers was great after I left they took out the Fish tanks and pets have fallen in sales but I would love to see fish tanks back in the store I would re-apply for pets and I have talked to some of my old customers who said talk them into getting it back, But i know that will never happen but who knows? Wal mart is NOT a BAD place to work, any job is what you make it. If you don't like your job than you will hate the company but that is your problem not the companies, If you like the job you will like the company. WalMart has put a lot off people to work who may not be able to work elsewhere and could very well be on welfare and that could cost a lot of tax dollars to the states. Replies (4)

RLWALLS10

Apr 15, 2013 11:20PM

My dad paid into social security for his entire life. He was fortunate enough that he made an income high enough that he maxed out his social security payments every year. Which means that when he retired, he was eligible for the maximum payments for his social security payments. Well, he got to collect all of 3 years worth of Social Security and then died. Had he been able to put that money into an IRA, or a 401K program, or hell even life insurance, my mother would have been able to benefit from his savings. I think there is not going to be enough "WalMart Jobs" in the future to cover all the older people who didn't save enough, or had the retirement funds mishandled by some greedy louse. There are no easy answers, but there has to be something done about Social Security! Replies (6)

King

Apr 15, 2013 9:40PM

Bankruptcy court approves Delphi executive bonuses By Jerry Isaacs 17 February 2006 A federal bankruptcy judge last week approved a plan proposed by Delphi Corporation that will provide its top executives with tens of millions of dollars in bonuses while hourly workers face a wage cut of up to 60 percent and the loss of 24,000 jobs. US Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain acknowledged it would be difficult for union workers to accept lucrative executive bonuses while they were facing severe wage cuts. But, he said, the lavish handouts for the bosses and brutal wage cuts for the workers were both needed to make Delphi competitive. The six-month incentive plan will award up to $38 million to Delphis executives, including several officials who presided over the companys loss of $5.5 billion in 2004-2005 and its plunge into bankruptcy. Some of those to be rewarded are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and FBI for false financial reporting and other dubious business practices. In a hearing to be scheduled later, Delphi will try to get court approval for other parts of its Key Employee Compensation Plan, including a lump sum payment of $87.9 million for 486 executives the day Delphi is sold or emerges from bankruptcy, and the setting aside of $400 million in equity of the reorganized company for executives. According to the Detroit Free Press, several Delphi executives stand to make millions if the entire compensation program is approved. Delphi President and Chief Operating Officer Rodney ONeal, with an average annual salary of $1.2 million, could receive more than $20.3 million; Vice Chairman David B. Whoolen, with an average annual salary of $890,000, could receive more than $16.2 million; Chief Financial Officer Robert J. Dellinger, with a $750,000 average annual salary, could receive more than $12.5 million. Delphi, like Northwest Airlines and Delta, timed its bankruptcy filing just ahead of the new bankruptcy law that places certain limits on compensation packages and makes it harder for executives to retain their jobs if fraud is suspected. While setting aside hundreds of millions for executives, Delphi CEO Robert Millerwho received a multi-million-dollar signing bonus when he hired in just months before declaring bankruptcyhas repeatedly suggested that auto workers are overpaid and under-worked, and argued that US auto companies cannot afford to pay current wages, health care benefits or pensions. The companys demands include a reduction of hourly wages from $27 to $12.50. Replies (9)

BeingHonest080312

Apr 15, 2013 9:07PM

But this guy had a retirement and then it was cut! Cut by a federal agency, I guess. But, defense spending isn't cut. And, now with the Boston situation, they will use that to say we don't need to cut defense. And, they gonna "go git 'em" now and spend millions of dollars putting our children 100,000 in debt instead fo 50,000. If you stick your finger in a fire ant's bed, you're going to be bitten. It doesn't matter how much bigger you are. Our so called leaders seem not to have figured that out yet. This man retired and he should get what he was supposed to get. Those with EBT cards won't be cut. I think I could almost guarantee that. They will riot, burn, destroy, and rob if they miss thier check. CONgress had rather take from the old, the weak, the feeble, and those in nursing homes. Replies (16)

Beentheredonethat541 loss. Replies (5)

Apr 15, 2013 9:15PM

I am surprize no one has commented on the loss of his pension. look at the percent he is giving for his

sillySalli

Apr 15, 2013 11:22PM

I am glad to hear that this man had a good experience working for WalMart. I have heard many negative stories, but I guess that at his location the managers have common sense. Replies (0)

myDrain1

Apr 16, 2013 4:31AM

It's true. Health care insurance is very expensive if you have to pay out of pocket. I quit working at 58 1/2 years of age. I now pay $1054/month for my health care insurance. Medicare is still 3 years away! That's part of the retirement cost these days. Are you prepared? Otherwise, you got to keep working until you get to medicare age! Replies (6)

Someone

Apr 15, 2013 10:30PM

I applied for Walmart at 62, and because of a bad hip, I told them I could do almost anything except stand in one place as a cashier. I breezed thru the CBLs and they assigned me to the toy dept. First day on the floor, they took me to the front and put me on a register. I couldn't do it and had to quit. I know several other people who have been lid to about what job they will get. I know one disabled man who is supposed to lift nothing. They made him a door greeter. When things are slow, they make him carry boxes of produce out and stock or will fire him. Replies (8)

unkyjack There are no other jobs. Replies (0)

Apr 15, 2013 10:00PM

boogie 46

Apr 15, 2013 9:04PM

i called on Wal-Mart's with my company for 20 years and i would rather have a bullet in my brain than work for Wal-Mart.. your lucky as most employees don't qualify for the insurance because they don get enough hours. Replies (7)

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