Wal-Mart ramps up its plans to hire veterans

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Nate Waits wakes up before 3 a.m. four days a week to get to his job at a Bentonville distribution center for Wal-Mart Stores, where the former Marine is among more than 92,000 veterans the company has hired in the past two years.

As the two-year anniversary approaches of the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment program the company launched on Memorial Day 2013, the retail giant announced Wednesday it is expanding its original plan to hire 100,000 veterans by 2018 to hire 250,000 recently discharged veterans by 2020. ‘Hard worth ethic’

Chris Sultemeier, executive vice president for logistics at Wal-Mart, said the company has been pleased with the skills veterans bring to a range of positions including retail, distribution and management. He said about 8,000 of the original hires have already been promoted.

“Veterans work. They’re disciplined; they’re teamwork focused. They have a hard work ethic. They’re typically committed and loyal,” said Sultemeier, an Army vet.

Waits, 25, says he doesn’t mind the early mornings or the structured day. He manages about 45 employees at the center.

If the company is successful, the 250,000 veterans would make up close to 20 percent of the retailer’s 1.3 million U.S. workers. Where jobs are fewer

Sultemeier said there are high concentrations of veteran hires near large military bases like Fort Hood. But Wal-Mart also has helped qualified veterans, who have been honorably discharged since Memorial Day 2013, find work in areas where there are often fewer job options.

Waits and his wife and two children moved to Bentonville when he was discharged from the Marines after four years of active duty and two tours in Afghanistan.

Waits, a Cincinnati native, said he applied for jobs at several companies, but in the end Wal-Mart’s veteran initiative swayed him.

“I wanted to work for a company that wanted me,” Waits said.