Walmart talks diversity; more women and people of color in officer roles

Walmart detailed the progress of its workforce diversity and inclusion efforts in a new report. 

The retail giant — the nation’s larger employer with a workforce of approximately 1.53 million people — said that representation at the officer level is more diverse year-over-year, with a  1.03% increase for women and a 0.61% increase for people of color, according to Walmart’s 2020 Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report.  

The increase in people of color was driven by a 1.97% increase in Black and African American officers. In total, nearly 75% of Walmart employees in officer roles are white.  (The officer level is the highest level of Walmart and includes VP positions and above.)

Walmart is one of the largest employers of Black and African American people, comprising 20.70% of its total U.S. workforce. The retailer said it hired more than 480,000 new U.S. associates in the last year and total people of color represented 55%, women 49.42% and Latinx 18.02% of the new hires.

In the United States, women make up 54.78% of Walmart’s workforce, with 55.41% in hourly positions, 45.94% in management roles and 32.83% in officer roles. Women of color make up 26.23% of Walmart’s U.S. workforce, with 26.86% in hourly positions, 17.37% in management and 8.42% in officer roles. (All data is as of January 31, 2021 for the United States.)

In a blog on the company’s website, Ben Hasan, senior VP and global chief culture, diversity, equity and inclusion officer, noted that Walmart is investing in programs to equip its employees with the training, tools and resources they need, including the introduction of a new race and inclusion curriculum in August 2020 on Walmart’s ULearn platform.

The retailer also launched a five-year, $100 million philanthropic commitment to create a new Center for Racial Equity. For more, click here.