Retail company Walmart has revealed plans to create 10,000 new retail jobs in the United States in 2017, becoming the latest U.S. company to promote domestic hiring and investment ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday.
The new hires will be posted at soon-to-open Walmart stores, expanded stores, and e-commerce services, while there will also be a projected 24,000 construction jobs to support new store openings and the remodeling of existing facilities.
Beefing Up Local Investments
“Our 2017 plans to grow our business — and our support for innovation in the textile industry — will have a meaningful impact across the country,” said Dan Bartlett, its executive vice president for corporate affairs, pointing to the company’s “important role” in creating American jobs.
In its upcoming fiscal year beginning February, Walmart is allotting $6.8 billion in capital investments in the country. In its Tuesday statement, it also said it would open 160 new training academies around the nation and offer “specialty training” for over 225,000 workers.
The low-price retail firm pays workers around $9 to $24.70 per hour, based on a press release a year ago that announced its 2016 pay increases. Average hourly wage was at $13.38 among full-time workers and $10.58 for part-time ones.
The announcement followed the retailer’s move in January 2016 to close 154 weakly performing stores, affecting 10,000 positions. In September, it also said it will remove 7,000 store accounting and invoicing posts due to automation, although ensuring that affected workers would be assigned elsewhere.
New U.S. Job Commitments
Home to 1.5 million workers in the United States, Walmart is among the companies to express their commitment to boost U.S. employment since Trump won the election in November. Trump has publicly urged American firms to boost their investment at home and create more jobs instead of setting up shop in more affordable places around the world.
General Motors announced on the same day as Walmart’s statement that it will pour an additional $1 billion in investment to U.S. manufacturing, apart from the $21 billion it has invested in its local operations since 2009. The new investments, GM explained, will translate to a mix of 1,500 new and retained jobs.
"Thank you to General Motors and Walmart for starting the big jobs push back into the U.S.!" tweeted Trump on Tuesday in reaction to the major moves.
German drug and agriculture company Bayer as well as American biotech firm Monsanto pledged that they will maintain over 9,000 jobs at home and fortify them with 3,000 new high-tech positions. Last week, online retailer Amazon revealed its plan to produce over 100,000 U.S. jobs in the coming 18 months.
Trump has criticized some large American companies over Twitter, including Ford Motors, out of significant overseas operations, domestic job cuts, and price increases. The public rebuke targeted at Ford, however, shortly turned into praise after the auto maker scrapped its planned Mexican car factory and create 700 Michigan jobs early this month.
Trump, who also tweeted that people are seeing “big stuff” with recent employment developments, assumes office on Friday.
