Walmart Expedites Training, Pays Bonuses to Employees

As the outbreak creates economic uncertainty—particularly among hourly workers—Walmart has announced it will be paying nearly $550 million in bonuses to its employees. Walmart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, Dan Bartlett, says these bonuses will reward employees for their “Herculean efforts” during these trying times, and hopefully keep them financially stable. Full-time associates will get $300, and part-time hourly employees will get a $150 bonus. The retailer has been under tremendous strain as shoppers buy supplies like non-perishable foods and cleaning supplies to help them shelter in place. “It is, quite frankly, unprecedented, the type of sustained pressure that we’re seeing,” Bartlett says. “It is like Black Friday day after day after day in some respects.” To handle this workload, Walmart announced it will be hiring 150,000 new associates through the end of May to help with demand. Bartlett says he’s going to expedite background checks and new employee training from two weeks down to three hours.