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A spokesperson for Walmart has said three-quarters of business leaders across its stores, club, and supply chain began their careers as hourly associates.
Anne Hatfield, a Senior Director of Global Communications at Walmart, shared the internal mobility figure with Inc.
Hatfield confirmed that a recent example shared by Fortune of Mustafa Tovi, a manager who transitioned from an $8-an-hour employee in 1999 to a store manager eligible to earn over $500,000 a year, is one of many.
“Mustafa Tovi's story in Fortune is actually quite common,” she told Inc.
According to Hatfield, Walmart operates a culture of internal mobility. “It is Walmart DNA to grow our next generation of frontline leaders and promote from within,” she added.
“In fact, approximately 75% of our store, club and supply chain leaders started as hourly associates,” Hatfield continued. “And leaders like Mustafa take great pride in paying it forward and mentoring others."
Doug McMillion, Walmart’s CEO, is a notable example, having begun his career as an hourly associate during high school, before completing a college degree and MBA and rejoining the company.
Hatfield also noted John Furner, current CEO and President at Walmart US, who joined as an hourly associate in 1993, and Cedric Clark, EVP of Store Operations for Walmart US, who joined as a sporting goods associate in 2002.
The Wall Street Journal has also reported on a worker who joined the retailer 20 years ago as a part-time associate, and most recently earned $240,000 as a store manager in 2023.
Clark recently told Bloomberg that the company’s new pay structure, introduced in January, has boosted retention, lowered turnover rates, and increased manager engagement scores—all conducive to a culture of internal mobility.
Under the new plan, managers at the retail giant received an increase in their base salary, jumping from an average of $117,000 to $128,000.
Boosted by annual stock grants of up to $20,000 per year, and a new bonus structure that allows managers to earn up to 200% of their base salary, a store manager can now theoretically earn a total compensation of over $500,000.
“I almost fainted when I found out,” said Greg Harden, a Walmart manager at a store in Grand Prairie, Texas, who stands to earn as much as $530,000 in 2024. He added that the difference has been “night and day.”
Walmart’s website says it offers a “differentiated proposition” for the upward mobility on offer to employees.
It reports in the financial year 2023, over 180,000 associates were promoted to jobs of greater responsibility and higher pay, and over 600,000 associates since 2021.
The “differentiated proposition” on offer includes low barriers to entry into Walmart jobs, and “distinctive training, development, and pathways to promotion and careers.”
