Walmart pilots program for college grads to become store managers — with big salary

Walmart is looking to jump-start the careers of college graduates — at Walmart.

The retailer is piloting a training program this summer for recent college graduates and current college students within 12 months of graduating, including Walmart employees.  The new College2Career program is aimed at putting graduates on a career path at Walmart — and becoming a store manager with a $210,000 salary within two years.

The program includes a mix of classroom training, hands-on experience and one-on-one mentoring with company leaders, with participants learning the ins and outs of Walmart and training to be a salaried member of management at a local store. At the end of the program, top performers are offered the newly-created management job of emerging coach – with a starting wage of at least $65,000 a year.

The company said it sees the emerging coach role as an additional pipeline to develop high-potential talent into future store managers, the latter role with an average wage of approximately $210,000 in 2021.

“With College2Career, we are aiming to move emerging coaches to store managers within two years,” wrote Walmart’s Amy Goldfinger, senior VP of global talent & workforce strategy and Lorraine Stomski, senior VP of learning & leadership in a joint post on the company website.

Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, with more than 1.5 million workers. Approximately 75% of the company’s s salaried store, club and supply chain management started at Walmart in hourly positions.

Walmart is launching the new training program amid the still-tight labor market. Last month, the company said it was hiking the wages of its long-haul truck drivers and launching a new program to attract drivers.