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Benefits October 8, 2010
Profit-Sharing Out at Wal-Mart in Favor of 401(k) Match
October 8, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Wal-Mart Stores, the nation’s largest private-sector employer, plans to scrap its profit-sharing contributions in favor of a 401(k) match, according to a Bloomberg report.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
Starting in February 2011, according to Bloomberg, the retailer will match 401(k) contributions up to 6% of employee pay, according to a memo the news service said it had obtained.
Wal-Mart automatically put up to 4% of pay into the profit-sharing plan, spokesman David Tovar told Bloomberg. During the year ending January 31, 2008, Wal-Mart contributed $724.4 million to 838,955 hourly employees in profit-sharing and 401(k) contributions, according to a May 2008 company press release.
Money saved from the switch will go toward quarterly bonuses for store employees, according to the news report. Wal-Mart employs 1.4 million people in the U.S.