Wal-Mart announced major changes to the way it compensates employees Thursday.
The retail giant hiked its starting wage to $11 an hour and offering increased benefits for parents as well as a one-time $1000 bonus for some workers.
But it’s not out of generosity. It’s thanks to savings that come from the President’s new tax plan.
“We actually estimate that Wal-Mart can generate about $4 billion in incremental free cash flow,” Barclays Analyst Karen Short, told Cheddar. “This is just a portion of the allocation.”
The company joins the likes of Bank of America, JetBlue, and AT&T, which have all returned savings from the tax plan to their workers.
But wages at Wal-Mart have been in the spotlight for some time. Facing pressure from advocacy group’s, the retailer has upped what it pays employees three times in the past 3 years.
Still, even with the announced increases, the starting wage is still below the $15 rate for which employees have argued.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/wal-mart-raises-wages-cites-tax-reform).
Disney and Fortnite-maker Epic Games will collab on making new video games with Disney characters. Hopefully it will be more than Mickey Mouse hitting the Griddy.
Hershey is cautioning on its 2024 profit growth as the company contends with rising cocoa costs, leading to increased prices for chocolate. The company anticipates its full-year earnings per share being relatively flat, partly due to higher cocoa and sugar costs.
Prince Harry has reached an out-of-court settlement with a tabloid newspaper publisher that invaded his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping. Attorney David Sherborne said that Mirror Group Newspapers had agreed to pay Harry’ “substantial” costs and damages.
An attorney representing passengers of an Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door plug in midair says a “whistling sound” was heard on a previous flight of the same Boeing 737 Max 9.
What do Arnold Schwarzenegger, Aubrey Plaza, and Tom Brady all have in common? You'll see them on Super Bowl Sunday, but not on the field. If you only watch the Super Bowl for the ads, here's a sneak peek.
The Federal Communications Commission knows (to loosely quote Drake) "when that [AI robocall] hotline bling, that can only mean one thing" — deception. The agency says bad actors have been using these voices to misinform voters.
