Jobs at new distribution center start at $14.50 per hour
Job seekers for Wal-Mart's warehouse distribution center east of Sparks converged on Park Lane Mall and other sites in Northern Nevada Tuesday, lured by starting wages of $14.50 an hour with benefits.
That's more than Scott Chrystal makes.
"That right there is the biggest draw," Chrystal said of higher wages as he filled out an application at Park Lane in Reno. "It's a phenomenal company, and most of us do our shopping there."
Masud Jony, 28, a native of Bangladesh, was looking for a better job than his current work as a cab driver. And, with his first child due soon, he said, he wants to improve his family's finances.
"I'm hoping to get a nice job," he said of Wal-Mart's 900,000-square-foot distribution center set to open this summer in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center 15 miles east of Sparks.
Susan Hamlin, the site's director of human resources, said the warehouse-distribution center will handle primarily grocery products for Wal-Mart Supercenters in Northern Nevada and parts of California.
She said Wal-Mart plans to hire 700 people for numerous positions, with most of the new hires to come out of the job fairs.
"We want to be very competitive with our wages," she said.
That was apparent to job seekers on Tuesday applying for order fillers, lift drivers and unloaders with advertised hourly wages progressing up to $18.85, depending on time of day and weekday or weekend schedules.
Roberto Lopes, referring to his previous wages at a Wal-Mart competitor, said, "$12.50 an hour is no good."
Jani Botwinis of Fernley described Wal-Mart's wages as "fantastic."
"The way prices of houses have gone up around here, they need wages like this to survive," she said. "Hopefully, it will inspire other warehouses to raise their wages, too. It's hard labor."
John McCormick, 44, of Sparks liked the pay scale but said he is also looking for a more stable work schedule.
"I'm up to $13 an hour, but it's a rotating shift and I can't deal with it," he said. "I want to take some classes."