In the middle of January, the well known corporation, Walmart,  decided to close 269 stores worldwide and 154 of them were within the United States. As a result of the stores closing, over 16,000 people were laid off and left unemployed. Walmart stated that the 1.2 million workers left will get an increased salary due to the large amount of layoffs.

Uber, the driving corporation, made a special sign-on bonus for all the laid off Walmart workers. They were willing to pay extra just so the unemployed had the opportunity to support themselves and their family.

According to Daily News, Los Angeles County approved a new minimum wage. By 2020, it will be at $15 an hour. The first minimum wage change will occur on July 1, 2016, increasing the amount from $10 an hour to $10.50 an hour. The economics teacher at HMSA, Mr. Lanius, had an interesting view on this new approval. He stated that “raising the minimum wage to $15 might not benefit the workers who are seeking that raise.”  He noted two reasons. First, “raising the minimum wage often causes more unemployment because the companies simply lay off employees so that the company can continue to make the same amount of profit.” Also, “when you raise the minimum wage you also raise the amount of competition from people who seek that job and the companies can select more skilled employees and replace less educated and less skilled employees.”

After interviewing Jorge Melo and Azul Rios, they both stated this tragedy will hugely affect the company, but whether or not it’s positive or negative is the question to be asked.