https://abcnews.go.com/Business/walmart-us-ceo-talks-inflation-checkout-paying-figures/story?id=109544504This year, Walmart says it has doubled the number of skills certificates it offers to help people move into higher-paying careers within the company, such as software engineers, data scientists, and opticians. Walmart says certificate programs take associates about four months on average to complete, compared to years for a degree.
Currently, 75% of Walmart’s salaried managers began as hourly associates. High-performing Walmart managers at the store’s Supercenters now have the ability to earn more than $400,000 a year, which includes a new stock grant rewards program. Some of those managers have college degrees, while others do not – it is not required for the job.
Furner acknowledged that the prevalence of shoplifting and organized retail crime across the country remains a challenge for retailers of all sizes. He says shrinkage – the industry term for merchandise loss due to theft – has increased at Walmart over the past two years. In response, the big-box retailer has been selectively removing self-checkout counters from some locations where there are more instances of shoplifting and mis-scanned items, but Furner told ABC News that self-checkout is not going away at Walmart.
On the inflation front, Furner says he continues to see improvement: “At Walmart, we are now seeing prices that are in line with where they were 12 months ago. I haven’t been able to say that for a few years now.”
Furner also sees deflation in big categories like general merchandise, where some prices are below where they were a year ago. “The last few weeks, we've taken even more prices down in areas like produce and meat and fresh food," Furner said.