Pros
Stable work- always going to be around, there are always promotions available if you are willing to travel across the country for them; vacations accrue quickly; benefits not as bad as advertised-actually affordable if you pick the policy best tailored for your needs. Also, many long-term associates actually care about their store and are willing to work hard to be the best they can be.
Cons
You are expected to basically live your life for the company when you are salaried- work/life balance suffers because of this. Also, everyday at Wal-Mart we have what I call the "sky is falling syndrome"- no matter what you do or how much you accomplish, you will NEVER be ahead and will be reminded of this frequently from Store Manager/ Market Manager/ Market Team. It is also a constant struggle to staff the store with increasingly stringent payroll and huge turnover problems- not uncommon to have 6-8 people on the entire salesfloor on a given evening- customer service suffers as a result