By Tom Mitchell in Beijing and Jonathan Birchall
Financial Times
October 23 2008

Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, yesterday told its Chinese suppliers to meet strict environmental and social standards or risk losing its business.

"Meeting social and environmental standards is not optional," Lee Scott, Walmart's chief executive, told a gathering of more than 1,000 suppliers in Beijing.

"A company that cheats on overtime and on the age of its labour, that dumps its scraps and its chemicals in our rivers, that does not pay its taxes or honour its contracts - will ultimately cheat on the quality of its products."

Walmart has been pursuing a drive to improve its reputation on environmental and social issues over the past three years, in response to growing criticism in the U.S. over issues including labour conditions in its supplier factories.

The directive, which will be codified in a Walmart suppliers' agreement, comes at a difficult time for China-based manufacturers, caught between rising production costs and the effect of the global financial crisis on consumer demand in their largest overseas markets.

The requirements include a clear demonstration of compliance with Chinese environmental laws, a 20 per cent improvement in energy efficiency at the company's 200 largest China suppliers, and disclosure of the names and addresses of every factory involved in the production process. The company will require a 25 percent rise in the efficiency of energy-intensive products, such as flat-screen TVs, by 2012.

Mr. Scott said the retailer also wanted to move away from the short-term focus that has characterised its relationships with Asian suppliers.

"We have traditionally purchased in a very transactional manner," said Mr Scott. "We need deeper, longer-term relationships with suppliers so it is not based on the last penny."

Some suppliers grumbled about the conditions spelled out by Walmart, which has a reputation for driving hard bargains. It is estimated that each year the company sells about $30 billion worth of China-made goods, giving it enormous negotiating power over suppliers.

"It's going to make things a lot worse," said one manufacturer at the meeting, who asked not to be identified. Others were more relaxed. "If they don't like it, they are not going to be doing business with Walmart," said one U.S.-based Walmart supplier who sources components from China.

By Kimberly Morrison
THE MORNING NEWS

More than 2,800 job seekers flooded the Northwest Arkansas Job Fair on Monday, vying for positions with some 70 regional employers.

It was the largest turnout yet for the three-year-old regional job fair, said Gretchen Laffoon, director of workforce and small business for the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. There were 2,500 available positions at the job fair, but a remarkable level of interest in jobs not offered at the fair.

Cameron Smith Associates boasts the largest executive search firm for Wal-Mart supplier teams, and advised a packed room of more than 100 hopefuls on how to break into the high-paying world of Wal-Mart supplier teams.

There are more than 1,200 suppliers with offices in Northwest Arkansas, employing some 5,700 people, said Cameron Smith. There are another 400 "third tier" suppliers, or companies that support direct suppliers to Wal-Mart, that make up "Vendorville."
Those jobs are tough to land without experience, but there are ways to get a foot in the door, Smith said.

"Everything is branding these days," said Smith. "When you're on the job market, you have to sell your brand. Your brand is what you stand for."

Building on that brand means networking at Chamber of Commerce events and learning about how supplier teams work at Doing Business in Bentonville, a speaker series for suppliers, or 8th and Walton, a Bentonville company that teaches courses on various aspects of working with Wal-Mart.

It also may mean working for less or working for free through an internship with a supplier, but could also mean a big payoff with a secure job.

"These careers are plentiful and about as recession-proof as it gets," Smith said. "People are not going to stop eating and buying consumables."

The influx of Wal-Mart suppliers over the last five years drove Northwest Arkansas to the largest increase in population in the state at more than 12 percent. In turn, the labor force increased 14.6 percent, according to the Department of Workforce Services.

The region continues to have a lower unemployment rate than the state. August unemployment for Northwest Arkansas was 3.6 percent, compared with the state level of 4.8 percent.

Mark May of Rogers, who attended the seminar, entertained the idea of breaking into a Wal-Mart supplier job, but said he would continue to look for other positions. May served more than two decades in the U.S. Air Force and worked a handful of odd jobs in the area, most recently a temporary job with Mercy Health. He hoped it would grow into something permanent before the company began two rounds of layoffs that dashed his prospects there.

"I'm looking most anywhere," he said. "I like new challenges and variety. I prefer to work with smaller organizations and places where I can make a difference. Wal-Mart is probably too big for me."

Michelle Singhoth of Springdale said she applied to Wal-Mart and a handful of other companies hoping to get a clerical or administrative position. With two children in tow -- a 10-month-old and a 2-year-old -- Singhoth and boyfriend John Robertson took turns with the kids to grab applications.

"He pushed me to come to the fair," Singhoth said.Robertson attends school and works full time, but she had been working on and off while raising their children. She worked most recently at a hotel, and applied to the Embassy Suites. The experience may prove valuable for the burgeoning hospitality industry, which is among the top 10 fastest growing occupations in Arkansas.

"I'm hopeful," she said. "We'll see."