Dive Brief:
- Walmart’s full- and part-time hourly store employees will be eligible for bonuses up to $1,000 per year, two executives announced via Walmart’s company website on Wednesday.
- The new bonus scales with years of service, Walmart said, and employees have the chance to earn more the longer they stay with the company.
- The retailer also touted its learning and development benefits, including a new pilot program that will train 100 store and supply chain associates in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas for technician jobs in areas such as refrigeration, heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Dive Insight:
Walmart’s announcement marks a reversal of sorts, given that the company phased out its quarterly bonus structure for store associates in 2021 in favor of boosting hourly base pay. In 2023, the company again raised starting wages to a minimum of $14 per hour from the previous $12 per hour, but later walked back the increases that same year; Walmart previously told Retail Dive that it kept existing wages in place at the time it ended the higher starting pay policy.
Earlier this year, Walmart announced changes to compensation for store managers. It projected an increase in average store manager salary from $117,000 to $128,000 per year while also redesigning its bonus structure for managers, stating that hitting all targets could net managers bonuses as high as 200% of their base salaries.
“For Walmart to be the best place to shop, we also need it to be the best place to work,” John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., and Lo Stomski, Walmart’s senior VP and chief talent officer, said in the June 5 announcement. “These investments are all part of our people-led, tech-powered commitment to Walmart associates.”
The company is not alone in restructuring incentive pay. Rival Target announced in March that it would double bonuses for salaried employees.