And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Matthew 24:12)

The paragraph I have hi-lited in red in the text below shows how cold and heartless Walmart Hqs. was in firing their employees this week.

Later editions of this article were edited from the newspaper and the below paragraph was left out. Obviously someone got to the publisher. Wonder who?

Sam Walton would never have let an employee go this way. He respected his employees, calling them associates. That's how he thought of them.

Wal-Mart Lays Off Workers

Last updated Tuesday, February 10, 2009 1:50 PM CST in News
By THE MORNING NEWS

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/20...artlayoffs.txt

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., began laying off employees at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club home offices this morning, according to two sources.

Company spokesman David Tovar told the Associated Press the cuts were in Wal-Mart's real estate, apparel and health and wellness departments.

Workers whose jobs are cut would be paid for 60 additional days and will receive health coverage for that time, Tovar said. Those eligible will be given severance pay, based on their tenure. He said the company would waive its policy of not letting employees immediately take jobs with vendors, and outplacement services would be available.

Ed Clifford, president of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, said he began hearing of the layoffs about 9:30 a.m. today. He said the effect of the action will be widespread across Northwest Arkansas.

"We have heard anything from 700 to 1,400, but we have no idea," Clifford said.

A woman who said she lost her job today as a recruiting coordinator for Wal-Mart told The Morning News that she was called into a meeting at 8:30 a.m. with a group of other people from her department and was told that they were among 700 people being laid off.

*Those being laid off were given packets with information about severance arrangements and escorted from the building, she said. They will be allowed to come back after hours to retrieve personal belongings and clean out their desks, she added.

"You could tell who was leaving because we all had our folders with us," she said. "It was very quiet."

The company had yet to provide an official statement on the layoffs early this afternoon. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore told The Morning News the company's announcement would be formally released later today.

Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, said the job losses would have a "multiplier" effect.

"It's never good news and particularly when you talk about a bedrock company like Wal-Mart that has such a multiplier effect in the community, where each job lost affects other jobs, because people don't shop or eat out."

"It is bad out there. I don't think it's hard to overstate right now just how bad it is. Consumers have a complete lack of confidence because there is no safe haven — no job is a safe job."

Wal-Mart Stores posted a 2.1 percent increase in same-store sales in the U.S. in the fourth quarter. Deck said though Wal-Mart is performing relatively well in the retail sector, "the company must be thinking strategically about costs and its work force."