Workers at America's largest private employer will soon be getting raises.
Walmart announced last week that the average salary for store managers will go from $117,000 to $128,000 a year — a 9.4% increase. They will also be eligible for bonuses up to 200% of base salary, based on individual store sales and profit.
A spokesperson for Walmart told NBC News in an email that there are approximately 4,700 Walmart stores in the U.S., and that each store has a store manager.
Walmart said about 75% of its field management teams began their Walmart careers as hourly workers.
"Not only are you responsible for exceeding customer expectations day in and day out; each of you is the CEO of a multimillion-dollar business," Cedric Clark, executive vice president for Walmart U.S. store operations said in a release announcing the pay raise. "And you’re the driving force behind the development of our next generation of leaders."
Walmart also announced that planned pay increases going into effect in February will see the U.S. average hourly wage for Walmart's approximately 1 million hourly workers climb to more than $18.00 — up from $17.50 last year.
In a December appearance on CNBC, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon noted prices were dropping across a host of categories. That, he said, is creating an ambiguous sales outlook for Walmart in the first part of 2024 amid signs that while economic growth will likely slow this year, consumer spending has been holding firm.
“If we had been talking last spring or at the beginning of last year, I expected more softness by this time of the year than we’re actually experiencing,” McMillon said, referring to the end of 2023. But, he added, “next year’s a different story.”
“It’s going to be interesting to watch what happens in the general merchandise categories in the year ahead, because prices are so much lower,” McMillon said.
