Top Walmart managers will now make more than $600,000 a year as American’s biggest retail chain overhauls its compensation, from hourly workers on up, CNN reports.
Walmart employs more than 400 market managers who oversee a total of 4,600 stores throughout the United States, each manager responsible for about a dozen stores. The job requires long hours and traveling to check each store’s inventory, staff and customer feedback.
On the low end, market managers’ total pay will rise from $320,000 to $420,000, and, on the high end, from $570,000 to $620,000.
Starting base pay for market managers is also increasing, by 25%, to a $160,000 base salary plus additional stock grants and bonuses.
Market managers are “key for our business and for serving our customers however they shop,” a Walmart spokesperson said.
Walmart, considered a big influencer on hourly wages in the U.S., has been struggling like many other employers to retain talent. Last year, the retail giant raised wages for store managers and hourly workers. The average starting salary for a Walmart store manager is now $128,000.
In the past few years, Walmart has raised hourly wages by roughly 30%, with the average U.S. hourly wage currently close to $18. Depending on the store and local market, however, Walmart hourly pay ranges between $14 and $19.
Walmart business has been booming since inflation began in 2021, attracting higher-income customers shopping for groceries. At the same time, Walmart leveraged its huge scale to drive down prices, and expanded its clothing, electronics, and home furnishings inventory.
Walmart also successfully took on Amazon’s online sales this year, and saw its sales grow 22% in the last quarter, while sales in U.S. stores rose 5% in the quarter.
Walmart’s next earnings call is on Feb. 20, 2025.