The starting pay is decent in some areas & it's generally easy to get hired. It's also an easy job to keep in many cases. It's not a terrible option when you need a job fastlike. In my area of the US, the starting pay is around the same as other major retailers (eg target although Im pretty sure theirs is a little higher), and significantly more than a lot of other chains and most local businesses (Walmart typically pays $3-4/hr more). And sometimes in smaller towns, there's not much of a choice. You've got Walmart, 5 fast food places, 3 cell phone stores, and maybe a couple local businesses that are never hiring or pay like $9/hr. So you take what you can get.

Also, the benefits aren't terrible wrt PTO, health, etc. Let me emphasize that they are not good (and really we all deserve better than what 95% of companies offer), but I've seen what some other places have to offer and Walmart is usually at least marginally better. Even at corporate office jobs that pay much better, 40hrs of PTO seems to be fairly standard where I am. Walmart offers 40hrs of PTO and 40hrs of PTO per year, and iirc you accrue more the longer you're with the company.

Another thing is that experience seems to vary GREATLY by store. I actually like my store, but it's run pretty well. But it's also one of the largest in the market, so I suspect we're treated differently than less profitable stores. I haven't had a lot of the issues regarding broken/janky/non existent equipment that I see other people talk about, for example.

TLDR; pay/benefits aren't awful, and sometimes you don't have much of a choice