Wal*Mart is in the news again for trying to look like a good corporate citizen. There are a number of articles that surfaced today about the massive company, most of which covered their new ‘environmentally friendly’ initiatives. Saving energy, reducing packaging, cutting fuel consumption, strong-arming suppliers… stuff like that. Here are a few to check out:

• Wal*Mart: Good Corporate Citizen? (There is an interesting discussion in the comments section of this post on BusinessPundit.com)
• Wal*Mart Launches Environmental Drive
• Wal*Mart to Seek Savings in Energy
• Wal*Mart to Expand Health Plan for Workers

Oh, but wait a minute, there’s another one:

• Wal*Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut Employee Benefit Cost

Here’s a few juicy nuggets from that article:

“An internal memo sent to Wal-Mart’s board of directors proposes numerous ways to hold down spending on health care and other benefits while seeking to minimize damage to the retailer’s reputation. Among the recommendations are hiring more part-time workers and discouraging unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart.

“…To discourage unhealthy job applicants, Ms. Chambers suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for ‘all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering).’”

Sweet.

TAGS: Wal*Mart | WalMart | Ethics | Benefits