The Reason This Tech CEO's Tweet Has Fans Praising Aldi
Not all tech companies are run by ruthless capitalists. The poster child for this stereotype might be Facebook, which stands accused in its latest congressional hearings of putting "their astronomical profits before people" with apps that deepen our country's political divisions and undermine teens' self confidence (via Reuters). The leader of a much smaller tech firm, on the other hand, advocates for the working class. He also put his money where his mouth is.
Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price broke the internet in 2015 when he announced in front of TV cameras that he would pay his employees a $70,000 minimum wage and cut his own salary from $1.1 million to the new company minimum, to enable him to literally share the wealth with his workers (via Inc.)
Price got the internet's attention again earlier this month, when he posted a tweet comparing capitalism in the U.S. to how the system works in other countries. "Cashiers here are forced to stand all day for no reason while they get chairs in every other country," Price tweeted. "Just pointless cruelty with no benefit for the worker."
The CEO's tweet was an opportunity for Aldi employees to flex a little on Reddit. The grocery chain that expanded into the U.S. from Germany apparently brought some chairs with them.
Aldi fans wonder why other chains don't provide chairs for cashiers
Tech CEO Dan Price's tweet about no chairs for cashiers was reposted on the Aldi subeddit on October 4. "This is one of the reasons I LOVE Aldi!" Redditor "PopTartAfficionado" commented. "I used to be a cashier at Walmart years ago, and I just thought it was cruel that I wasn't allowed a chair. ... It was grueling to stand in one spot all day!"
While one commenter said Aldi was the only store in the U.S. they knew of that provided chairs for cashiers, another Redditor said the idea appears to be spreading. "My local Jewel-Osco has been good about chairs though, and it seems more and more chains where I live are providing chairs (Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, etc.)," they said.
Before anyone could get too excited about chairs for cashiers, someone else on Reddit noted that it can be straining to sit all day, too. "I honestly like standing," Redditor "hot_wet_garbage" said. "Sitting too long hurts my back."
Despite the praise it gets, Aldi may not be an oasis of compassionate capitalism in an otherwise cruel country afer all — at least not intentionally. Mental Floss notes that Aldi cashiers have chairs because the chain's research indicates that sitting cashiers scan faster.