Walmart announced this week that it plans on hiring over 20,000 workers in its supply chain segment across 250 distribution centers. The jobs on offer include order fillers, freight handlers, transporters, and similar associate-level positions. All the roles will be permanent, although some will be part-time, and the average wage will be US$20.37 per hour. According to the announcement, the company will hold hiring events on 8 and 9 September.

Apart from daily wages and to counter rising competition, Walmart is offering compensation in the form of special bonuses, college tuition fees, and stationery expenses to warehouse employees. Other multinational giants are also providing similar benefits including CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreens Boots Alliance is planning on amplifying daily wages to $15 an hour, and CVS said it would drop education requirements for entry-level jobs.

The majority of industries and retailers across the globe are facing restricted sales and supply flow due to the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic. Extensive competition of workforce, irregular manufacturing of products, delayed delivery, blocked ports globally, a surge in product rates, and many more are other obstacles being faced by the retailers. Walmart's recruitment spree is to cater to the global competition, scare supply chain across countries, and anticipated holiday shopping surge.

Apart from generating supply chain centric jobs, Walmart is also investing in automated systems and advanced technologies to simplify the procedure of picking and packaging online grocery orders.

Chief Financial Officer, Brett Biggs at Walmart revealed a surge in demand for clothing, school-related equipment, luggage, etc. To adhere to the growing requirements, Walmart is ramping up lead times for orders and has launched its own vessels to accelerate the export and import of products.