Walmart hiring 150K associates as holiday season nears

Walmart is looking to hire upward of 150,000 U.S. store associates to help meet the surge in demand during and after the holiday season. 

Most of the new hires will fill "permanent, full-time positions across the country," Walmart Chief People Officer Julie Murphy said. 

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"This will ensure we’re ready to help customers shop however they want, whether they’re in a store, using curbside pickup or shopping online," especially as the holiday season approaches, according to Murphy.  

However, the company is also offering current associates the opportunity to pick up extra hours over the holiday season and plans to "continue to offer those opportunities."

Murphy said Walmart offers "competitive pay" with a U.S. average hourly wage of about $16.40 and that jobs in its stores can also pay as much as $34 per hour. 

Murphy further noted that any entry-level associates can be promoted "to roles of greater responsibility and higher pay within seven months, on average." 

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This is the company's second hiring surge in recent months. At the end of August, Walmart announced that it was hiring 20,000 additional permanent supply chain associates in facilities across the nation to meet the unprecedented demand of shoppers. 

"Having a robust supply chain is more important than ever," the company said. 

Last year, the company Walmart hired more than 500,000 store associates throughout the year to help with the increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic. This included hiring tens of thousands of people at the company's e-commerce fulfillment centers as more shoppers headed online. 

"As more of them [shoppers] turn to online shopping, we want to ensure we’re staffed and ready to help deliver," Greg Smith, Walmart executive vice president for supply chain, said.