Walmart is raising the starting base pay for store managers and redesigning its bonus plan to put more emphasis on profits for these leaders.
The moves will be effective Feb. 1. They come as the nation’s largest retailer and largest private employer aims to retain managers and make clear to hourly workers that there’s a path for upward mobility in a highly competitive labor market.
Roughly 75% of its store management started out as hourly workers, according to Walmart.
Company officials said that the store managers’ new starting annual base wage ranges will be $90,000 to $170,000. Previously, the range was $65,000 to $170,000. That means that the average base pay for store leaders will rise to $128,000 from $117,000, according to Cedric Clark, executive vice president of store operations for Walmart’s U.S. division.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer, which has more than 4,700 stores in the United States, is also redesigning its store manager bonus program, which previously placed a bigger emphasis on sales over profits.
With the new plan, profits will play a bigger role in calculating manager’s annual bonus. If the manager hits all targets, the bonus could double the leader’s base salary, according to Clark, who started out as an hourly worker. Previously, it was up to one and half times the manager’s base salary.
“We’re trying to create opportunities where they can continue to aspire,” Clark said of hourly workers.
Walmart also said that average wages for hourly workers would exceed $18, up from $17.50. The increase is due to introducing some higher-paying hourly roles in its Auto Care Centers last year, among other changes, the company said.
Walmart announced in January 2023 that U.S. workers would get pay raises the following month, increasing starting wages to between $14 and $19 an hour. Starting wages previously ranged between $12 and $18 an hour, depending on location.
