Walmart to change store jobs and boost wages

About 165,000Walmart supercenter employees are about to get more pay, but it’s coming with more responsibility for howtheir stores operate and look.

In twokey departments, bakery and deli, Walmart will pay the $15 minimumwage that retail workers have been targeting for years.

Supercenters will have small teams cross-trained and given responsibility “for specific parts of the store being in-stock and meeting visual standards,” said Dacona Smith, chief operating officer at Walmart U.S.

Those hourly team lead roles start out with pay of between $18 and $21 an hour and can go up to $30 an hour. Pay is also being increased for salaried digital, asset protection and auto care center assistant manager jobs.

“Through thisnew, tiered structure for team leads, we’re creating room for pay and career growth while investing in areas like pickup and delivery as customers increasingly turn to those options,” Smith said.

The new minimum wage in deli and bakery of $15 an hour is up from $11 an hour, matching its two biggest competitors, Target and Amazon.

Beginning in July, Target permanently raised its starting wages to $15, matching Amazon’s starting pay for full-time, part-time, store and distribution center hourly employees. Kroger just completed negotiations with theUnited Food and CommercialWorkers Union that raised wages and benefits by $2.30 an hour in its 98 Dallas-Fort Worth stores over multiple years.

Walmart autocenteremployees are also getting raises of at least $1 an hour. The cross training will give these employees skills to support otherswhowant to take time off or just need extra help during busy shifts, Smith said.

The pay increases start in October and will take the place of annual increases.