Wal-Mart Adjusts the Thermostat to Warm Worker Relations

When the weather gets sultry here at company headquarters, Wal-Mart workers everywhere brace for an icy blast.

Because temperatures at Wal-Mart stores across the United States are controlled remotely by the retailer’s centralized systems here, employees stock shelves and tend to customers under conditions that, by many accounts, tend to be on the chilly side from one city to another.

So at an employees’ rally held here on Wednesday ahead of the retail giant’s annual shareholders meeting this week, company executives made one of several concessions by agreeing to raise average store temperatures by 1 degree for the majority of Wal-Mart locations.

From adjusting the air-conditioning to relaxing the dress code and even jazzing up a store’s music, the overtures — however small they seemed — are part of Wal-Mart’s effort to project an image of a more caring employer.