Wal*Mart using automated schedules

hobo sapiens writes: The WSJ reported that WalMart is going to move to automated schedules for its employees. This means that employees are given, at least according to the article, random schedules and will be expected to work them regardless of inconvenience. Having worked in retail many years ago, I for one can tell you that this is going to be a major headache for these people.

Many of us may write software that tries to make things more efficient, but this is a good example of the human cost of that efficiency. So what do you think? Is this A Good Thing, or is this another case of software just going too far?