Wal-Mart Stores to hire 250,000 ex defence veterans
20 May 2015
Wal-Mart Stores Inc hired 92,000 veterans in the past two years under its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment programme launched on Memorial Day 2013.
With the anniversary of the launch, approaching, the retail giant announced today an expansion of its programme to hire 100,000 veterans by 2018.
The retailer would employ a total of 250,000 recently-discharged veterans by 2020.
According to Chris Sultemeier, executive vice president for logistics at Wal-Mart, the company had been pleased with the skills that the veterans brought to a range of positions including retail, distribution and management.
He said about 8,000 of the original hires had already been promoted.
"Veterans work. They're disciplined; they're teamwork focused. They have a hard work ethic. They're typically committed and loyal," said Sultemeier, who is an army veteran, AP reported. "What we are looking for in an associate and what the military teaches them... It just matches."
If the programme is successful, the 250,000 veterans would make up close to 20 per cent of the retailer's 1.3 million US workers.
Sultemeier added that veteran hires near large military bases like Fort Hood in Texas or Fort Bragg in North Carolina were high.