• Wal-Mart plans to hire 100,000 veterans

    Retail giant Wal-Mart has announced that over the next five years it projects hiring 100,000 honorably discharged vets who are in their first 12 months off active duty. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

    Wal-Mart will hire every veteran who wants to trade their camo fatigues for khakis and dark-blue polos, the company announced Tuesday.

    "Sadly, too many of those who fought for us abroad now find themselves fighting for jobs at home," Wal-Mart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon said in a speech before the National Retail Federation. "Not every returning veteran wants to work in retail.  But every veteran who does will have a place to go. We project that Wal-Mart will hire more than 100,000 veterans over the next five years."

    As of December 2012, the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was 10.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The current national unemployment rate is 7.8 percent. By the end of 2012, there were 226,000 unemployed Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

    The announcement comes at a time when Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and the nation's largest private employer, is trying to burnish its image. The company has been criticized over the years for offering low-paying jobs and its sourcing from Chinese manufacturers has been brought into question. Recently, allegations have been leveled that the company made bribes in Mexico to obtain building permits and there have been calls for improved supply chain oversight following the deadly fire at a Bangladesh factory that supplied clothes to several global retailers, including Wal-Mart.

    The retailer's hiring program will be open to veterans honorably discharged within the past 12 months. "All types" of jobs will be available, spokesperson Brooke Buchanan told TODAY, from part time to full time and management. These positions will be in stores, regional distribution centers, and the headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. Salary will depend on position. Benefits are included for full-time jobs.

    Openings will be be dependent on each facilities' staffing needs, the company said. No new positions will be created. Employee transfers between facilities will not count as new hires towards the 100,000 projection. However, the company said, if someone leaves their job at Wal-Mart and then comes back to work for the retailer later, that will be considered a new hire.

    Wal-Mart currently employs 1.4 million and "experiences significant turnover in associates each year," according to a March regulatory filing. Over 100,000 of those employees are veterans, according to the company, which declined to provide the number of currently available open positions.

    Under employer tax incentives for hiring veterans extended as part of the fiscal cliff deal, Wal-Mart can get a tax credit of $2,400 for hiring veterans that have been searching for work for at least four weeks but less than six months. Veterans with service-related disabilities are worth even more, up to $9,600 per hire.

    Several veterans groups greeted the announcement with gusto. Nonprofit veteran's advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff told TODAY that "IAVA applauds Wal-Mart's leadership on veteran hiring... we need more employers to appreciate that these young men and women are not a charity, they are an investment. Wal-Mart's footprint is large enough that they can single-handedly impact that unemployment number, especially if they exceed their 100,000 jobs goal." On Jan. 9, the IAVA announced receiving a $50,000 grant from Wal-Mart to promote employment of veterans in New York state which the group said it will use to build an online job-search tool and fund a job fair for veterans.

    An interesting wrinkle in the program is that job-seeking vets who meet the eligibility requirements will get "priority applicant status." If a job is between two equally qualified candidates, one a vet and one a civilian, the vet gets the job, Buchanan said.

    In the same speech announcing the veteran's initiative, Wal-Mart's CEO also announced plans for Wal-Mart and Sam's club to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next years. The approach is two-pronged. The retailer will increase purchases of categories that are already sourced in the U.S., like basic clothing, sporting goods, games, storage products and paper goods, and will encourage the development of U.S. production in furniture, textiles, and high-end appliances, said Simon.

    The White House, which has made promoting the hiring of veterans by the private sector a priority, welcomed Wal-Mart's pledge to hire more veterans. 

    "This is exactly the kind of act we hoped would be possible when we started Joining Forces — a concrete example of our nation's love and support that our troops, veterans, and their families can feel in their lives every day," said first lady Michelle Obama in a prepared statement. "So today, my challenge is simple: for every business in America to follow Wal-Mart's lead by finding innovative solutions that both make sense for their workplaces and make a difference for our veterans and their families."

    In August 2011, President Barack Obama issued a challenge to employers to hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2013, a torch that Mrs. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have picked up as part of the Joining Forces initiative. At an event in August 2012, Mrs. Obama announced that more than 2,000 American companies had taken up the challenge, hiring 125,000 veterans and military spouses.

    Veterans often face unique challenges re-entering civilian life. They may carry physical or mental disabilities, such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Wal-Mart told TODAY that veterans would have to pass the standard background and criminal record checks but would not be subjected to any additional psychological screening. A standard employee telephone helpline would be made available to employed veterans suffering from PTSD or any other disabilities, Wal-Mart said.

    "Obviously this is a good move that an employer wants to hire veterans. Our concern is that the jobs might be low wage and not offer enough health benefits," said Paul Sullivan, a board member for D.C.-based veterans' rights group Veterans for Common Sense. "I am concerned this is a public relations exercise to make the company look good. Veterans need fair wages, union representation and a job that offers a career, not just a low-wage position."

  • Starbucks rolling out $1 reusable plastic cups

    Starbucks

    Refill, anyone? Starbucks is now selling a $1 reusable plastic cup.

    By Martha C. White

    Starbucks’ iconic white cup is a great marketing tool in customers’ hands, but not so great when it’s taking up space in a landfill.

    The Seattle coffee giant is trying for the best of both worlds with the rollout of a $1 reusable plastic cup that resembles the paper one but can be brought back to the store for refills. Whether or not fans will be as devoted to the company’s environmental goals as they are to its coffee remains to be seen.

    “I think it’s a good first step because it does raise awareness,” said Julie Urlaub, founder and managing partner of environmental consulting firm Taiga Company. “This is a campaign that’s in alignment with the company’s values and their sustainability plan.”

    Changing consumer behavior can be a daunting task, though. Starbucks acknowledged that its 2008 goal to have 25 percent of its beverages served in reusable cups by 2015 had stalled, even with the incentive of a 10-cent discount; three years into the initiative, just under 2 percent of drinks were served in reusable mugs. The company modified its goal to a more modest 5 percent. It also began test-marketing what it calls a “high quality, low cost” reusable plastic cup that can hold tall or grande size drinks at 600 Pacific Northwest-area stores in October.

    Starbucks now is introducing the cups to all of its U.S. and Canadian company-owned stores and some licensed coffee shops.

    The company's challenge in modifying consumer behavior is twofold: People have to actually buy the reusable cups, then they have to remember to bring them back to the stores. “Ironically, if they sell a large number of travel mugs that end up not being used, they may worsen their environmental footprint in the long run,” said Catherine L. Kling, economics professor at Iowa State University, via email.

    The low price of the cups is a factor Starbucks is playing up, pointing out that the cup pays for itself after only 10 drinks, but offering a dime off the price of a drink might not be enough of an incentive to kick the paper-cup habit, experts say.

    Money certainly can motivate people to adopt environmentally friendly practices. Jinhua Zhao, a professor and director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University, said the number of aluminum cans recycled can be up to 20 percentage points higher in states with bigger per-can refunds.  

    “In this sense, the 10 cent discount Starbucks offers seems a bit low if the purpose is to get consumers who have purchased reusable cups to actually use them,” he said via email.

    Kling points out, however, that offering a bigger discount would come at the expense of the company’s profit margin. “My guess is that they are targeting people who purchase regular type coffee — whose prices are lower so the discount will be a higher percent,” she said. “Starbucks is presumably motivated to do this largely for environmental concerns and the associated goodwill it can bring their company. But they have to consider profitability, as well.”

    Zhao suggested that the company could sell the reusable cups in tandem with charging for disposable cups, imitating programs designed to cut down on the use of plastic shopping bags. But Starbucks customers — already paying a premium price for their caffeine fix — might resent a tacked-on cup fee.

    It wouldn’t be surprising if Starbucks evolves the initiative as time goes on, Urlaub said, especially since it already has scaled down its original goal for cup reuse. “There are stumbling blocks, there are challenges that surface,” she said. “There is a lot of failure, but in that failure, there’s a lot of learning.” It’s more important that Starbucks promote the reusable cups as just one facet of a more holistic approach to eco-friendliness, she said, which the company is doing by also trying to increase how many of its paper cups are recycled. 

    If it succeeds in getting people to remember to grab those cups on the way out the door for their morning commute, Zhao said the initiative could have a ripple effect. “Having an influential company such as Starbucks taking this action will help set examples for other companies to follow,” he said.

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  • Zappos customer-service call lasts 10 hours

    Zappos.com

    By Martha C. White

    When a customer-service rep goes above and beyond to try to solve your problem, that's welcome. When they spend 10-and-a-half hours on the phone giving you advice about relocating to Las Vegas, that's Zappos.com.

    Unlike many other online retailers (including parent company Amazon.com), Zappos plasters its site with its toll-free customer service number, which is staffed 24/7. When a Midwestern college student called the site's Nevada headquarters two weeks ago to buy a pair of Uggs boots, the transaction turned into a chat marathon about the city, where the student was considering moving. The rep was able to take some breaks during the call; the customer agreed to hold the line.

    Zappos spokesman Jeff Lewis said providing good customer service is a top priority. "We feel that allowing our team members the ability to stay on the phone with a customer for as long as they need is a crucial means of fulfilling this value," he said via email.

    By assuring management that it wouldn’t interfere with Zappos’ free-spirited corporate culture when it acquired the shoe retailer in 2009, Amazon benefits from the customer-service elements that make Zappos customers so loyal.

    “Amazon has purposely allowed that culture to continue to proliferate,” said Bryan Pearson, president of LoyaltyOne, a loyalty marketing and strategy company. “I’m sure they’re bringing some of the key lessons from the Zappos experience into Amazon."

    Jordy Leiser, CEO of Stella Service, a customer service measurement and ratings business, said this is the case. In a study conducted a few months ago, Zappos tied with L.L. Bean for the best customer service on Twitter. Leiser said that when Amazon saw how much customers liked being able to solve customer service issues over the microblogging site, it started offering customer support via tweet, too. Zappos had been using Twitter to field customer queries since 2008.

    "They are starting to integrate and rub off on each other," he said. 

    Amazon didn't have poor customer service beforehand, according to Stella's research; it just wasn't the focus of the shopper experience. "In online, it's about fulfillment and a smooth shopping experience," Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forrester Research, said via email. 

    In this regard, Amazon delivers, Leiser said. "They please customers with their shipping and logistics experience," Leiser said. Earlier this year, Amazon took over some of Zappos' back-end inventory-management processes, letting Zappos benefit from one of its strong spots.

    And both Amazon and Zappos ranked highly in Stella's survey of phone service responsiveness, with mystery shoppers able to reach live agents in about a minute, on average.

    "Each of them has the things that are most important to their customer base. For Zappos, it’s all about the phone customer service," Leiser said. Apparently that service even includes a lengthy discussion about moving advice. 

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  • Companies step up to help victims of Sandy

    Courtesy Duracell

    Duracell's Rapid Responder truck gives out free batteries Wednesday in Manhattan. The truck also provides a charging station for mobile devices.

    By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

    As the East Coast assesses damage from superstorm Sandy and focuses on rebuilding, corporations are opening their wallets to help with the recovery efforts. Beside donations of five, six and seven figures to the Red Cross and other organizations, companies are also creatively deploying mobile relief efforts. It's a time for goodwill — and for burnishing civic credentials.

    As Sandy bore down, Home Depot stationed trucks preloaded with supplies in strategic locations, the Wall Street Journal reports. This allowed additional inventory to get delivered to stores even when normal routes were disrupted. The home improvement store also pledged an $250,000 to the Red Cross on top of their regular annual donation, $100,000 to Team Rubicon, a volunteer relief brigade composed of U.S. military veterans and $150,000 to Operation Homefront, an emergency relief fund.

    The Verizon Foundation is donating $100,000 to the Red Cross. Verizon Wireless stores are letting people come in and charge their phones, hop on wi-fi and make free domestic phone calls. In the New Jersey towns of Sea Girt and Howell, the company set up mobile stores on wheels, and at Monmouth University and two spots in Toms River, the company established Wireless Emergency Communication Centers with free device charging, phones for free calls, and computer workstations.

    Dispensing free batteries and offering a mobile device charging station, Duracell parked a Rapid Responder pickup truck in Hoboken and Little Ferry, N.J., on Thursday. Last night it was stationed in lower Manhattan. It's no doubt appreciated by the people lined up to charge their devices, but the area could probably use a whole army of them right now.

    Other companies also stepped up to the challenge:

    • AT&T and T-mobile agreed to let each other's customers roam on their networks, helpful as cell service took a hit during the storm and capacity has been slowly returning. AT&T is also sending out roving charging stations and RVs throughout the city, and waiving late-payment windows for people behind on their payments. They're also not disconnecting anyone's service who was unable to make a payment.
    • 100 trucks are arriving at Sears and Kmart stores from 42 distribution centers, filled with the most-needed items like generators, sump pumps, batteries, and flashlights. Some items are going directly from the warehouses to speed delivery.
    • Chevrolet donated 50 cargo vans, full-size SUVs and crossovers to the Red Cross for use in disaster relief. "It is during disasters like this that we all need to pull together as a country," said General Motors CEO Dan Akerson in a press release.
    • Walmart has committed $1.5 million to disaster relief. Then there's the stories of difference made on the ground. For instance, a Wal-Mart employee in Tappahancock, Va., donated dry ice to save an organ at a local hospital without checking up the chain of command. "At Walmart, we empower our store managers to help the communities they serve," said spokesperson Tara Raddohl. "They don’t have to ask for permission to do what is right."
    • Con Edison gave out free dry ice at seven locations in Brooklyn Thursday so utility customers without power could save their refrigerated food.
    • U-Haul is giving 30 days of free storage to victims of the storm.
    • eBay set up a special Hurricane Sandy site where 10 percent, and in some cases, up to 100 percent of the item's final price would go to a seller-designated charity.
    • Kohl's made a $1 million donation the Red Cross. The department store also encouraged its workers to volunteer in recovery efforts, offering additional corporate grants to the nonprofits their employees were supporting.
    • CVS donated $50,000 in bottled water and snacks to New Jersey areas hit hard by the superstorm. The goods were distributed via the Red Cross through their shelters. CVS also made a $100,000 donation to the Red Cross.
    • The New York Yankees donated $500,000 to the Red Cross.
    • NBC Universal is hosting a big benefit concert tonight at 8pm ET, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi, Sting, and Billy Joel. Hosted by Matt Lauer, viewers will be encouraged to call in and donate to the Red Cross by visiting visit RedCross.org, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. (NBCNews.com is owned by NBC Universal.)

    Some companies helped out by helping their customers to get involved. Through Nov. 30, American Airlines is giving frequent flier members 250 AAdvantage miles for donations of $50 to the Red Cross, or 500 miles for donations of $100 or more.

    Airbnb.com, which matches travelers and people with extra rooms, encouraged members in storm-affected areas to lower their nightly prices. The site also announced it would temporarily waive fees for guests in the affected areas. One host is letting people use the service to stay at her place for free.

    "I saw video coming in of water pouring in," said Shell Martinez, 36, "and I thought, 'People are going to need a place to stay.'" She posted her offer on Facebook and Twitter but it didn't get much traction until the site included it in an email blast to members, encouraging them to open their homes to the storm-stricken. Now Martinez has a full house and an inbox full of other hosts asking how they can do the same.

    Companies who get involved in disaster charity have a chance to help out the communities they service, and also get a boost to their brand image. It's important that they walk the line when getting the word out about their efforts and are careful not to appear like they're captitalizing on tragedy.

    David Meerman Scott, author of "Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage," is a proponent of companies jumping into the newscycle. At the same time, a misfire can quickly turn into a social media backlash, especially when Google indexes in real-time, letting journalists and customers see your how companies are responding quicker than ever.

    "The biggest danger is trivializing such a major disaster," Scott told NBC News. "When retailers like American Apparel offer a Hurricane Sandy sale, it crosses the line. People lost their lives, or their homes, and are living without power or food and they're trying to sell clothes."

    Bottom line, says Scott, "It is generally not a good idea to newsjack a story that includes death and destruction unless you are helping victims."

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