Walmart ramps up hiring, adds COVID-19 testing sites
Walmart Inc. is hiring 150,000 temporary workers and readying its parking lots for novel coronavirus tests as the world’s largest retailer girds itself to deal with the unprecedented challenges of the fast-spreading outbreak.
The vast majority of the new employees will work in stores and many will become permanent staff over time, Walmart said in a statement Thursday evening.
The company is also slated to begin virus tests in the Chicago, primarily for health-care workers and first responders, in conjunction with medical officials and drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
“Everything is ready to go,” Dan Bartlett, Walmart’s executive vice-president of corporate affairs, said on a call with reporters. “It should be up and running soon.”
He said that the company is talking to governors’ offices to get permission to expand testing sites to other states.
While retailers such as Macy’s Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. have been forced to close all their stores, others like Walmart and Costco Wholesale Corp. are experiencing a surge in traffic normally seen only around the holiday peak.
Walmart’s supply chain was “catching its breath,” Bartlett said, while its grocery curbside pickup service has been “slammed.”
Initial demand for water and paper products has shifted over to food, with many Americans needing to eat all their meals at home as restaurants close.
“We’re trying to find where the new normal is,” Bartlett said.
Still, Walmart’s work to keep shelves stocked was praised by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.
Walmart, America’s biggest private employer with 1.5 million associates, will look to hire people who’ve been let go from jobs in the restaurant and hospitality industries. Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits are poised to surge to a record 2.25 million this week, according to Goldman Sachs Group, while Bank of America said it could be as high as three million.
The new hires will be split between Walmart’s 4,750 U.S. stores and its network of about 150 distribution centres.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus testing at Walmart parking lots was set to begin over the weekend for first responders. Federal and state health officials will administer the tests initially, with the company’s staff “watching and learning,” Bartlett said. In time, Walmart’s pharmacists could carry out the swab tests, he said, but would never handle patient data.
Walmart has no plans to close any of its U.S. stores, Bartlett said, unlike sellers of more discretionary goods like department stores. Bloomberg