Human Resources
It is alleged that COSTCO is not fair to female employees in promotional opportunities. Is this correct? Is this not correct? And why?
In the culture wars between retailers, Costco always seems to come out ahead of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. No one boycotts Costco because of their labor practices or because they are unfair to manufacuters, but is this the end of the story? Some women have alleged that Costco, like Wal-Mart, is not fair to female employees and doesn't offer promotional opportunities to them. In fact, a class action suit has been filed which states that from 2002-2007 a "glass ceiling" existed at Costco that limited female employees' pay and promotions. The case is still awaiting adjudication by the courts. According to the text book, women make up nearly half of Costco's workforce, but only 13% of store managers are women. By way of explanation, the CEO has said that women have a tendency to be caretakers and have the responsibility for the children and for the family. With this kind of attitude coming from the very top of the company, the allegations against Costco seem much more likely to be true.
Student...
Wal-Mart is said to treat employees much worse than other big companies. Costco on a whole pays employees more and expresses a desire to motivate and maintain good workers. Wal-Mart sacrifices these things to serve the bottom line, and yet Costco's labor costs are actually less than Wal-Mart's. What may come to light, however, is that Costco is not a wonderful an employer as people imagine. Women who worked for Costco from 2002-2007 have filed a suit alleging that Costco is unfair in the way it treats female employees -- both by offering them lower pay and by not promoting them to management positions. Their suit calls into question whether or not procedural justice exists at the company. Are the procedures used to choose management fair? Women are nearly 50% of Costco's workforce but only 13% of store managers are women. The employees claim that unfair procedures -- like filling positions by word of mouth and not a formal process -- have led to this disparity. Without a just system in place, women can be shut out of the process. What could solve this problem…
