Walmart could play more nicely wih its people, especially in the lower pay grades.
Pros
My peers are great, and there is a great deal of collaboration, mentoring, and communication at this level. Most are perhaps overqualified, but many, like me, reject the aggravation of being promoted into the salaried rat race. For the most part, I find it family friendly, but the fate of any department manager depends on which assistant manager is assigned over you. Most are great, and understood that we are there to train THEM. But I had one who was evil and had it in for me. I outlasted her, and she moved to another area (If you can stick it out 6 months, that's usually all you have to put up with.) I don't have too much contact with the co-managers or the store manager, which is good since that means trouble. As for my associates, I figure its my job to keep stuff from landing on them from above, which I do pretty well. (My policy is if we screw it up, its my fault, and and when we do it right, its all because of my associates. Which it is.) But my peer group is supportive, friendly, smart, and diverse. I enjoy working with them every day, and that experience alone makes the infrequent aggravation worth it. I am also allowed a great deal of autonomy within my departments, and as long as I'm turning a profit, I'm left alone to do my job.
Cons
The managers don't need to have management training; some do, and you can tell who they are in about 5 minutes. They get an 8 week training program, and that's it; after that, its sink or swim. Store managers and their assistants are on call 24-7 which is probably why there are relatively few women with young children doing it. Its pretty hard on family life. One really nasty thing WalMart does is cut hours when business is slow; that is, people are cut down from 40 to 35 hours (or less) to make the margins. For associates who are only making minimum, or a little above, that $60 (paydays are biweekly) is really painful. That's a week of groceries for a small and frugal family, or a tank of gas. Salaried managers aren't asked to make a similar sacrifice, and that is unfair, and one reason why the company is threatened by unions. This doesn't impact my family: my income is secondary, but there are WalMart families where both spouses work for the company. And if you get a jerky manager, your life can be hell. My store manager has a hard time making eye contact, and a temper.