By Brett O’Keefe, Associated Civic News Press, Jefferson City, Mo.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Walmart has begun testing small onsite “pod hotels” inside portions of its warehouse facilities, allowing employees to sleep at work in what the company says is an effort to address rising housing costs and long commutes.
The pilot program, which launched quietly earlier this year at a warehouse outside Jefferson City, places compact sleeping pods in unused sections of company-owned buildings. The pods include a bed, ventilation, lighting, and limited storage, according to company materials reviewed by the local press.
Walmart officials describe the program as voluntary and temporary, aimed at workers who face long drives, unstable housing, or short-term financial strain.
“This is about flexibility and support,” said company spokesperson Andrea Collins. “We’re looking at ways to meet associates where they are, especially as housing affordability continues to challenge workers across the country.”
Employees pay a reduced nightly fee deducted from their paychecks, the company said. Walmart declined to specify the cost but said it is lower than average local rent.
Some workers, however, say the arrangement raises concerns about boundaries between work and personal life.
One warehouse employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said the pods blur the line between rest and labor.
“You’re never really off the clock when you’re sleeping at work,” the employee said.
The worker also said employees staying in the pods are not allowed to use warehouse bathrooms until their scheduled shift begins, a policy the company said is tied to security and access controls.
“I’ve learned to hold it in until my shift starts,” the employee said.
Walmart confirmed that restroom access for pod users is limited outside of working hours but said alternative solutions are under review.
Labor advocates said the program reflects broader pressures facing low- and middle-income workers.
“When the solution to housing costs is sleeping at your job, something is fundamentally broken,” said Karen Delgado, a labor policy analyst with a Midwest workers’ rights group. “This shifts the burden of a national housing crisis onto employees.”
Walmart said early feedback from the pilot has been positive, citing internal surveys that show strong demand among some workers. Company officials said the Jefferson City program is serving as a model for potential expansion.
“If current trends continue, we anticipate rolling this out to additional locations in 2026 and 2027,” Collins said.
Local officials said they were aware of the pilot but emphasized that no zoning laws were violated, since the pods are located inside existing commercial structures.
Walmart employs more than 1.6 million workers in the United States, many of whom live in areas where rents have risen faster than wages. The company has raised starting pay in recent years, but critics argue the increases have not kept pace with housing and transportation costs.
For now, the pod hotels remain limited to a small number of facilities. Whether they become a common feature of Walmart warehouses nationwide may depend on how workers respond to the idea of sleeping just steps from the job they will clock into the next morning.
This story is fiction. Please clearly identify your story as fiction since it’s not clear everyone got the message and it otherwise appears you are trying to deceive them, for example by attributing the frictional story to the associated Press.
If they just wait a few months, this story will become non-fiction. The way things are going, it might not even take that long.
This is the test case for your job owning where you live. It always starts as something to “help” the workers. Before long, wages fall / prices rise, and then the benevolent company is there with open arms to welcome you into its new, cheaper alternative.
Don’t believe it.
Imagine getting woken up by your boss.
Boss: “Hey, buddy.” [Patting your shoulder gently.]
You: “Huh? Whaaa?”
Boss: “We’re short today. I need you to come clock in.”
You: “Sorry, I have plans.”
Boss: “You’re not being much of a team player today. You know there aren’t as many beds as employees. I had to go bat for you to get this one. Maybe it should have gone to someone who appreciates the privilege more.”
“Ya, Imma be right there! Where’s my vest?”
“Great! You’re needed at customer service. Someone wants to return a used enema bag and they’re really angry.”
“Dan, ya remember that 5 cent raise for me that we talked about? Any word from corporate yet on if that got approved or not? Just wondering…”
I’m revisiting this after learning about the community. I still think this was a really fun thread.
❤️
I have another walmart post, (https://reddthat.com/post/58228938) but people are mad that it’s not real and say it’s misinformation. I understand their anger, cuz we damn sure don’t wanna make people mad at walmart. It’s such an upstanding member of our society! :)
I remember getting a 10 cent raise at some retail job I had when I was young, and the boss just sat there and stared at me, and finally said “Aren’t you going to thank me for the raise? Most people only got a nickel.”
I said, “Yippee! In a 40 hour week, that’s an extra $4. Now I can buy a house,” and I walked out of his office. I didn’t last much longer after that.
And to think, Married with Children was making fun of a $5 a week raise back in 1990, over 30 years ago.
This would have been just a few years before that, around 1985 or so.
“Yeah! You should see it on your next pay check. Oh, by the way, the local bank closed down, so the company credit union is the only game in town now. It’s struggling to serve so many new customers that they’ve had to introduce a monthly fee on accounts, eight dollars per month.”
I’d dig it.
So instead you’d rather pay a “nightly fee” from your paycheck to live in a shoebox with no space where you can’t access the bathroom when you’re not on the clock, and you’re stacked with your fellow workers in the back corner of a warehouse?
Have fun with that.
I’d prefer my residence not be tied to whether or not my at-will employer likes me.
They already try to keep you tied to your job with health insurance, now they want to add your bunk, too.
Prison is starting to look better and better.
EDIT: I apparently fell for a fake news Lemmy community. Its explained in the sidebar. I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt that they couldn’t link the real new story, but trusted the attribution to APNEWS. If you enjoy participating in OPs social experiment on posters you’re in the right place. I’m not, so I’m out.
I’ll be the first to say this could go very wrong, but for someone that is already homeless, this might be a step up. Employment usually requires the ability to sleep in a secure location consistently. Next would be bathing facilities I would guess. We don’t know if bathing areas are included, but some employers I’ve seen it. I would imagine it would be difficult for a homeless person to work a job at Walmart without these two things, but if this checks the box allowing them to gain employment, it could be a critical step up from them to get their own housing outside of this Walmart pilot.
If you think Walmart isn’t going to take enough of their paycheck to make this the only option they can afford, I’ve got a bridge I’m trying to sell that I’d like to talk to you about.
The article already mentions how Walmart salaries aren’t enough to afford rent, now you want people to save up for a better place AND pay their nightly storage fee?
Come on, man.
EDIT: I apparently fell for a fake news Lemmy community. Its explained in the sidebar. I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt that they couldn’t link the real new story, but trusted the attribution to APNEWS. If you enjoy participating in OPs social experiment on posters you’re in the right place. I’m not, so I’m out.
The article already mentions how Walmart salaries aren’t enough to afford rent, now you want people to save up for a better place AND pay their nightly storage fee?
Who would you hire to work at a warehouse distribution center you own?
- Unwashed man with tattered clothing, with nothing to their name, whose most recent work history is maybe general labor 2 years ago?
- Clean and presentable man, who was able to afford basic clean clothing, grooming, and transit costs to get to the interview on time, with a year or two of consistent warehouse experience at Walmart?
This is the same man separated by time with the first before this Walmart pilot and the second after. Getting any kind of housing can be very hard. I certainly wouldn’t blame someone that is homeless for taking advantage of this to get themselves back on track.
Am I suggesting that Walmart is the answer to homelessness? Hell no, but our society certainly isn’t doing enough to address it, and homelessness is going to get worse in the near future.
This isn’t a solution to homelessness either though, it’s just legalising slavery via company towns and eventually, company scrip, which has been done before, and it doesn’t work well for anyone but the company.
Go read how company towns have worked in the past, it always ends in indentured servitude.
EDIT: I apparently fell for a fake news Lemmy community. Its explained in the sidebar. I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt that they couldn’t link the real new story, but trusted the attribution to APNEWS. If you enjoy participating in OPs social experiment on posters you’re in the right place. I’m not, so I’m out.
Go read how company towns have worked in the past, it always ends in indentured servitude.
Oh I’m aware of history, so let me correct some of your mistaken statements:
This isn’t a solution to homelessness either though,
Right, I already said that in the exact post you’re responding to when I said “Am I suggesting that Walmart is the answer to homelessness? Hell no, but our society certainly isn’t doing enough to address it, and homelessness is going to get worse in the near future.”
it’s just legalising slavery via company towns
Not a company town. A company town is where the employer owns the housing, the factory, and all the stores. Jefferson City is the capitol of Missouri. Its not a huge city but even with that there are hundreds of other employers, stores, and tens of thousands of other houses not owned by Walmart. Not a company town
and eventually, company scrip,
Regardless of how shitty the USA is now, they’re not going to allow companies to issue their own currency. The US government doesn’t like the competition.
Also, I’m kind of pissed at you for making me defend fucking Walmart, but facts are more important so here I am.
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The article said they don’t even have access to a toilet unless they are on the clock, so No, no showering facilities.
EDIT: I apparently fell for a fake news Lemmy community. Its explained in the sidebar. I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt that they couldn’t link the real new story, but trusted the attribution to APNEWS. If you enjoy participating in OPs social experiment on posters you’re in the right place. I’m not, so I’m out.
The article said they don’t even have access to a toilet unless they are on the clock, so No, no showering facilities.
The context in the article where that line was taken was meaning: access to toilets after leaving the DC and accessing the new housing.
An employer isn’t going to stop you from relieving yourself immediately after you clock out.
I’m not sure about your personal work experience, but for folks that work jobs that get you dirty many employers offer shower facilities on-site for employee use. The article says this housing pilot project is in a Walmart distribution center (warehouse). A quick google search shows that many Walmart DCs have employee shower facilities available. Here’s evidence of that from an indeed poster:
Now, I don’t know for sure that this DC where the pilot is taking place has showers. I also don’t know if those using the housing are allowed to use the showers. However, the possibility exist, and I think Walmart would want its folks sleeping in company owned sleep pods to be bathed, so I think its highly likely that they chose a pilot location with showers, and I would guess they would allow the folks using these sleep pods to bath. It is not in Walmart’s interest to have dirty/stinky workers showing up the next morning for work.
Maybe, but I also know that you’ll never get far by counting on Walmart’s respect for humanity, especially its own workers.
EDIT: I apparently fell for a fake news Lemmy community. Its explained in the sidebar. I gave the OP the benefit of the doubt that they couldn’t link the real new story, but trusted the attribution to APNEWS. If you enjoy participating in OPs social experiment on posters you’re in the right place. I’m not, so I’m out.
In this case I’m not. If we take the most cynical view I don’t think Walmart would be offering this for the benefit of its workers. That just happens to be a side effect.
Human labor is expensive. The available workforce that is both housed and has their own bathing facilities have demands on short commute to work, consistently rising wages, preferential hours, and preferential tasks. Even with these demands, employee turnover is very high increasing repeated training costs for replacements. This new pilot would allow Walmart to access another pool of labor that would be willing to forgo those things. However, there are certain hygiene demands that Walmart has of all of its workers irrespective of where they source the labor. Being well slept and bathed are two of these. Walmart can provide the facilities for these two things at a low cost to Walmart. Showers already exist and DCs so just some operational costs there and the real estate for the housing is already company owned as its in an unused warehouse. The only new costs are the sleeping pods, which are likely not expensive in volume to Walmart should this pilot be expanded, and they are charging a small fee to their employees using them further offsetting the cost to Walmart corporate.
The end result are additional workers that were not fit to work at Walmart before, but are now, and provide benefits to Walmart to increase the labor supply to its locations especially where acquiring required staffing has been difficult.
Enjoy being walmarts bitch I guess.
I’d do many things for money! (Brought to you by Carls Jr.)
Thanks!
You’re welcome!
Welcome back to fucking company towns, we make all the profit but don’t have to pay you enough to live.
We’ll wish it was just a company town. At least they maintained a facade. This is pretext for them testimg the waters for something even worse. It will be like living down in the mine itself, family and all.
I read a book series with that as a theme in a sci-fi future. The poor Reds.
Red Rising?
And you better toe the company line, or you don’t just get fired, you get instantly homeless. I’m sure there won’t be any predatory managers who will take advantage of that, not at Walmart.
They are charging their employees rent, but they aren’t allowed to use the toilets, unless it’s their work shift. Talk about a psychopathic policy. That’s got to be some kind of housing code violation. Fine them a billion dollars per violation.
How about tens of dollars?
I ate the onion, right, right?
Did you?
No, but i could have.
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Can wait for when we live at work and after 30 years of loyal service we can earn our freedom.
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So no source at all. Sure Jan.
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OR, crazy idea… Pay the employees more?
EDIT: Pretty sure I ate the onion. Regardless, people should be paid more.
EDIT: Pretty sure I ate the onion. Regardless, people should be paid more.
The Onion doesn’t claim to be the Associated Press. This community is something else entirely than satire.
Wal-mart grocery is best grocery.
I’d love to stay onsite. Being able to work-sleep-work-sleep-work then go enjoy the rest of my week would be awesome. Ive always wanted to get a job where i can compress the amount I work. I’d do it for 6 months 16hr a day if it ment rest of the year off.
Real talk: If I was in my 20’s and this were a real thing where I lived, I would 100 percent do it to save up cash. I’d prefer sleeping in a pod to sharing an apartment with 3 roommates, and have to drive 20 minutes to and from work. lmao
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Not a fan of onions, are ya?
Don’t worry this world is fucking insane and that was just a reality check.
It sucks
This is them telling us that they have no intention of fixing the housing crisis, so we better get used to stuff like this.
I recently read about a college that was building a parking garage specifically for students who live in their cars. They could build a residential facility so they could live like normal people, but it’s better to normalize car life as a viable living option, since that’s where a lot of them will be living after taking out tens of thousands in loans for a degree that will never lead to a career.
Source link?
