COLUMBUS — Walmart has announced that more than 850,000 Walmart associates in the U.S., including associates in stores in Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Logan, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby counties., and more than 29,000 in Ohio, have received a share of more than $157 million in cash bonuses based on their stores’ performance in the fourth quarter.
The bonuses, along with an annual pay raise, were included in their March 9 paychecks.
Walmart associates can earn quarterly bonuses based on the performance of their stores. Workers in the Dayton area shared more than $475,000 in bonuses paid in the region ($5.4 million throughout Ohio). The bonuses come on the heels of Walmart U.S.’s recording its strongest comp sales performance of the year in the fourth quarter at 1.8 percent. Customer service and inventory management have also improved. For the full fiscal year, U.S. associates shared more than $700 million in bonuses.
“We’re proud to be leaders in the new world of retail. No other retailer offers as wide a range of jobs, training opportunities, room for advancement, benefits and the opportunity for financial advancement as Walmart,” said Dann Moore, Walmart regional general manager for Northwest, Central and Southern Ohio. “We have invested in wages and training to create a system that can help our associates go as far as they want to go.”
Over the past two years, Walmart has invested billions of dollars in training, education and higher wages. These investments offer associates skills, knowledge and tools to help them grow with the company and provide great customer service during a time of rapid change in shopping habits. During 2016, Walmart launched new training programs for entry-level associates, frontline supervisors, department managers and assistant managers, creating clearer career paths and preparing them to succeed in a new, technology-enabled age of retail.
During fiscal 2017, Walmart U.S. promoted more than 200,000 associates, including 6,897 in Ohio, to jobs with higher pay and more responsibility. More than 150,000 associates, including 5,233 in Ohio, were converted from part time to full time. More than 75 percent of current store management teams started as hourly workers. Walmart opened 40 training academies, physical facilities that serve as learning hubs for hourly supervisors, department managers and assistant managers from approximately 25 area stores.
In Ohio, the company operates 173 retail units, spent $5.6 billion with local suppliers, supporting 121,089 supplier jobs in fiscal 2017 and paid more than $158 million in taxes and collected more than $481 million in sales taxes in fiscal 2016.
