Walmart Wants To Fast Track College Grads To $210K Store Manager Jobs: Here’s Why

Walmart (WMT) is looking to hire recent college graduates and put them on a fast track to a management career, where they could earn upwards of $210,000 a year.

The goal of the retail giant is to get ahead of the tightened labor market and fill more manager jobs at its approximately 4,700 stores in the U.S.

According to Walmart, about 75% of its salaried store, club, and supply chain management workers started their careers in hourly positions.

To add more managers to its stores, Walmart is piloting the College2Career program that will give college grads the chance to start their careers with the retail chain. The program targets recent college graduates and current college students that are within 12 months of graduating college and also includes current Walmart associates.

These individuals with go through a mix of classroom and hands-on training as well as one-on-one training with a mentor to ready them for a management job as an emerging coach – a new position at Walmart with a starting wage of at least $65,000 a year.

College graduates will start the role immediately, and college students will start upon graduation.

For many of these students, the emerging coach position could develop into a future store manager role with an average wage of about $210,000 in 2021. The College2Career program looks to move emerging coaches to store managers within two years, Walmart said.

Walmart is also growing its internship program at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, with the goal of transitioning these interns to full-time roles within the company after they graduate.