It seems even school children know that now is a time of great transition for the Retail Industry. Amazon’s profound disruption of the way we shop has threatened the dominance of the big box and brick-and-mortar stores that used to hold sway over the public imagination and the public wallet. But companies like Walmart (and there aren’t many companies like Walmart) have learned how to thrust, parry, and stay alive in this radically changed consumer landscape by adapting as well as they can. But we’re not concerned with profits today, or with innovations: We’re looking at the company cultures of these five companies – Amazon, Costco, The Home Depot, Kroger (who run Ralph’s, Fry’s, and Food 4 Less, among other chains), and Walmart. How do employees feel about working for these big retail chains? Do employees working for an online shopping outfit feel more satisfied in their jobs than workers walking the floor of a brick-and-mortar monolith?
OVERALL CULTURE
In what may come to be a familiar outcome during this culture comparison, Costco waltzes away with the Culture category, beating runner-up Home Depot by almost ten percentage points. On the other end of the spectrum are Kroger and Walmart, rated a D+ and C respectively by their employees for Culture.
Amazon: “Fast paced and definitely can be competitive. But it is a positive work environment that thrives on change and improvement.”
Costco: “Amazing company, great pay and benefits. Very secure financially.”
Home Depot: “We are all pretty handy and know the ins and outs of the products we carry.”
Kroger: “I feel 20 years ago we were so much better in the way we treat our employees which in turn made a great customer experience. A happy employee environment means a happy and returning customer.”
Walmart: “Morale is low due to all the store leadership layoffs and consolidation of jobs, People feel they might be played off for robots, which is odd when what people want is more human interaction and help.”
CEO
Costco’s much-admired Jelinek wins the CEO category – which measures how employees feel about their Chief Executive – in a walk. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO and the nation’s Prince of Disruption, notches a third place finish after Jelinek and Home Depot’s Craig Menear.
Amazon: “He’s good. Those whom work with him feel he can be a difficult. But it is because he knows, or wants to know all aspects.”
Costco: “The employees think very highly of the CEO. There is an excellent open door policy. Any employee can contact him at any time.”
Home Depot: “Menear wants to make the Home Depot the best hardware store in the world.”
Kroger: “We would probably like the CEO a lot more if the starting pay was a living wage there.”
Walmart: “The current CEO has the company headed in the right direction.”
COMPENSATION
Win number three for Costco as the retail chain’s dominance continues, this time in the Compensation category, which measures how employees feel about their salary. Conversely, Kroger sees its third last-place finish so far.
Amazon: “As you move up, you have a bit more negotiation power for pay vs stock. Shift differential and holiday pay is also pretty sweet.”
Costco: “I love having paid vacation and sick pay! I don’t feel guilty about not being at work, because I know our department will be taken care of.”
Home Depot: “Pay is fairly low even after learning multiple areas. Everyone is part time and it can be difficult to get hours.”
Kroger: “Appreciation through better raises and benefits would go a long way toward associate morale.”
Walmart: “I’m a cashier and they never have enough cashiers working on weekends & holidays. I feel like I’m doing the job of two people and don’t get compensated for it. Another raise would be nice.”
PERKS & BENEFITS
Costco rings the bell for win number four, for the Perks & Benefits category. They easily outpace the competition here, as nobody else gets above an average rating for their benefits offered. Kroger sits in dead last place again.
Amazon: “Amazon has a excellent benefit package, including voluntary overtime and very low insurance premiums with very high Insurance quality.”
Costco: “The health, dental, and vision benefits are outstanding.”
Home Depot: “The Home Depot has great benefits. Health, vision, dental, 401k. You can also purchase stock.”
Kroger: “Not much. They’ll give you an associate discount at stores, but it takes forever for the card to arrive. Plus their benefits are small if any for anyone below 6 months.”
Walmart: “Health benefits are expensive and not very good. The associate discount on products is very good.”
GENDER
One more socko score and one more win for Costco for Gender, which measures how female employees feels about how the company treats them compared to the opposite sex. Home Depot is on Costco’s tail here, trailing by ten percentage points. Kroger is last again, but not as resoundingly so, with Walmart only beating them by two perentage points.
Amazon: “The majority of tech roles are filled by males. Amazon is making progress, but still has a long way to go regarding equal treatment and internalized sexism.”
Home Depot: “There has been a big push over the past years to have more women in management.”
DIVERSITY
Costco goes six-for-six by winning the Diversity category. Again, Home Depot rates a solidly respectable second-place showing. And Kroger and Walmart continue to duke it out for last place.
Amazon: “It is unfortunately a lot of men working in engineering. Otherwise the work force is very diverse (I’m pretty sure a majority of my team, myself included, is not originally American).”
Costco: “There’s a good mix of backgrounds with plenty of stories to share.”
Home Depot: “Home Depot is very diverse.”
Kroger: “The majority is white. However we have maybe four people who can do sign language and two folks on the autism spectrum. Other than that, it’s nonexistent.”
Walmart: “Diversity is not as great as it used to be. People are hired from the neighborhood so the majority of people in a particular store are from that area.”
OUTLOOK
Amazon: “They will survive and conquer.”
Costco: “Talented people find ways to learn. They don’t need handholding. If they get rid of paired programming a lot of talent would flood back in.”
Home Depot: “Home Depot will do well, but if Home Depot want to be GREAT they have to diversify their talent pool.”
Kroger: “Employees are dropping like flies because they don’t offer a living wage.”
Walmart: “Walmart usually comes out on top no matter the challenges.”
By winning the Outlook category as well as every other one we had, it’s obvious that Costco has the most valuable company culture to its employees. But a serious mention needs to be logged for The Home Depot, who proved very strong as first runner-up in six of our seven categories. Amazon didn’t quite catch either company and tended towards more B grades. And the only positive thing we can say at this point about Walmart’s culture – at least as rated by its employees – is that it’s not Kroger.
