NEW YORK — Walmart is introducing new rewards for its hourly workers in the United States, including a new bonus scheme and opportunity to advance to skilled craft roles within the company.
The rewards program, introduced Wednesday, comes as the nation’s largest private employer reports a decrease in employee turnover. However, Walmart, like other companies, faces a competitive labor market and rising employee demands.
Walmart’s new bonus plan for eligible part-time and full-time U.S. retail employees, including those in its pharmacies and Vision Centers, is based on store success. The maximum bonus potential is also connected to years of service.
For example, a full-time employee who has been with Walmart for one to nearly five years can earn a maximum incentive of $350 per year, while a 20-year full-time employee can earn a maximum bonus of $1,000, according to Walmart. According to the corporation, 700,000 employees in the United States will be eligible for the plan.
Walmart Offers New Perks For Workers, From A New Bonus Plan To Opportunities In Skilled Trade Jobs
Walmart announced in January that its U.S. store managers will get up to $20,000 in Walmart stock grants annually.
Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, the firm is also creating a training program for hourly workers in its U.S. stores and supply networks, allowing them to advance into roles in facilities maintenance, refrigeration, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and automation. Walmart plans to raise the number of skilled crafts personnel from 450 to around 2,000 over the next two years.
The roles pay between $19 and $45 per hour, and employees will be compensated throughout training, according to the company. Walmart’s average hourly wage is close to $18, up 30% over the last five years. Walmart’s beginning salaries for U.S. employees range from $14 to $19 per hour.
Walmart | Super Market News ImageWalmart Offers New Perks For Workers, From A New Bonus Plan To Opportunities In Skilled Trade Jobs
The training program is anticipated to begin with 100 employees from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It is part of Walmart Academy, one of the country’s largest skill-development programs.
Walmart said the skilled trades project is comparable to a program unveiled two years ago that allowed employees at its distribution and fulfillment centers to become licensed Walmart truck drivers after completing a 12-week curriculum taught by the company’s established drivers.
At the time, it stated it was increasing wages for its 12,000 truck drivers. The starting salary for new drivers is now between $95,000 and $110,000 annually. According to the store, the typical first-year salary for new truck drivers was $87,500.
Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield said the trucker program has produced more than 500 new drivers since it began in the spring of 2022. This has helped the corporation negotiate an industry-wide lack of truck drivers.
Walmart Offers New Perks For Workers, From A New Bonus Plan To Opportunities In Skilled Trade Jobs
Walmart offers similar training and development programs for pharmacy technicians and opticians.
Meanwhile, Walmart announced Wednesday that it is increasing the number of skills certificates available to help front-line workers advance into approximately 100,000 higher-paying and in-demand professions over the next three years. In 2020, there were five skill certificates. Now, there are fifty.
Lo Stomski, Walmart’s senior vice president and chief personnel officer, stated that the certifications can be achieved in four months.
SOURCE – (AP)
