Walmart has received nationwide backlash after announcing plans to eliminate front-door greeter positions by April 25. Known for their famous line, “Welcome to Walmart,” greeters are the first face customers see and are jobs often filled by individuals with disabilities.
According to a report by NPR, “Walmart has been eliminating greeters and replacing them with ‘customer hosts,’ who have expanded responsibilities, such as taking care of security or assisting shoppers.”
In a 2016 blog post, Walmart describes customer hosts as “an associate who greets customers, but also checks receipts where appropriate, assists with returns and helps keep entrances clean and safe.”
John Spencer has been a greeter at Walmart in Owensboro for 13 years. According to his daughter, Laura Murphy, Spencer has a college degree, but being 90 percent deaf has made finding a job difficult, until he found his position at Walmart.
“This is the longest he’s worked anywhere,” Murphy said. “I know he would be devastated if he couldn’t be a people greeter.”
Spencer said the new customer host position will be more physical, requiring employees to stand for long periods of time, use a ladder, lift 25 pounds, provide asset protection, check receipts and keep the entrance clean.
“I’m confident I can still do it,” Spencer said.
But he’s not sure if all his fellow greeters will be able to meet the new requirements.
“It will affect some people like one who cannot stand on feet all day and can only lift ten pounds,” Spencer said. “They would be unable to fulfill new requirements.”
Walmart, the largest private employer in the U.S., is known to have a large workforce of employees with disabilities. The job of greeter has traditionally been a good fit because the job isn’t physically strenuous and is easy to learn.
While Spencer believes he will be able to meet the more physical demands of the customer host position, other employees with disabilities, like those that require a wheelchair or have other physical limitations will not.
Walmart originally told those greeters that will lose their jobs that they can apply for other positions within the company, but employment is not guaranteed.
In response to the national backlash surrounding the elimination of greeters, Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart’s U.S. stores issued a memo to managers Thursday.
“In terms of the associates with disabilities who are transitioning out of the People Greeter position, we recognize these people face a unique situation. And because not all disabilities are the same, each case requires a thoughtful solution,” Foran wrote. “For that reason, we are looking into each one on an individual basis with the goal of offering appropriate accommodations that will enable these associates to continue in other roles with their store.”
