Walmart now offering free college tuition and books to its 1.5 million U.S. employees

[mcar]

Source: Washington Post

Walmart will begin offering free college tuition and books to its 1.5 million U.S. employees, the latest effort by the country’s largest private employer to attract and retain workers in a tight labor market.

The retail giant said Tuesday that it will invest nearly $1 billion over the next five years in career training and development programs for workers who want to pursue majors in high-demand fields, such as business administration, supply chain and cybersecurity. The company had previously required its Walmart and Sam’s Club workforce to pay $1 a day to participate in the program....

Walmart’s Live Better U education program, which will be free beginning Aug. 16, was created three years ago to help employees advance within the company. Workers can choose from 10 academic partners, including the University of Arizona, the University of Denver, Purdue University Global and Southern New Hampshire University. More than 52,000 employees have participated and 8,000 have graduated since 2018.

“Our education offerings tie directly to our growth areas at Walmart, and what better way to fill the pipeline of future talent than with our own associates,” Stomski said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/27/walmart-free-college-employees/

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Credit where it's due.

[Lars39]

1. I'm cynical. How are the employees going to do it

if they have ever changing shifts?

[PSPS]

6. I'm cynical too, but they can easily afford it.

Their gross income last quarter (ending 4/2021) was $138 billion plus they have $23 billion in cash in the bank. Their proposal here is $1 billion over 5 years which is "only" $50 million per quarter (.05 billion), so it's a rounding error for them.

[melm00se]

46. That's revenue

gross income $35,038,000,000
operating income $6,909,000,000
Net income $2,730,000,000

[PSPS]

47. Less that 2% of their net income.

[Bluethroughu]

13. I agree with you...

I don't shop the walmart, but my sister does and said the store has very limited employees, and zero cashiers. Only one person to help if you've been flagged by the cameras, to be checked.

It's a ghost town....so how many employees will actually benefit from this program? It's sounds like PR, to move the conversation away from automation within the stores.

This is why local tax incentives for enterprise should be tied to quantitative direct employment results during a specified time period.

[catrose]

17. Exactly. Maybe they can sell the books for food, because they don't earn enough to buy it.

[Luciferous]

21. Online classes?

[Lars39]

22. Possibly

[JI7]

24. Students have always had these type of jobs. They schedule them

based on when students are available. This can if course mean few hours but it has always been an issue.

[Lars39]

25. Not always.

Nowadays you can be on call. Every single week can be different.

[JI7]

26. What I mean is they will not ask them to work during those times

they have classes. They can still be on call during the rest of the time .

But as I said, this can mean very few hours. Even something like 4 hours a week.

[Marrah_Goodman]

38. Online classes

[Marrah_Goodman]

37. Actually they are trying to be better about shifts

My housemate works there, as well as her autistic son. They work the same days and shifts and this year her schedule has been pretty set with the same days off.

[Lars39]

39. That's good to know.

I hope that’s company wide and not just an exception.

[PSPS]

2. That's how you get the line of applicants on the left...

[underpants]

3. I know it's not probably considered a dream job

But operations like Walmart and McDonalds have tons of opportunity especially for those just entering the market.

[Tadpole Raisin]

4. Wow, did someone get hit in the head in management?

I like this but I can’t believe they are willing to put that much money into their employees!

Very interesting!

[PSPS]

9. It's not that much for them. Their proposal represents less than 2% of their net income.

It's an excellent investment for them in many ways.

[George II]

19. The program began 3 years ago. Apparently they're just dropping the nominal $1/day fee.

[JI7]

27. Employees have the upper hand at the moment with workplaces competing for them

What I'm hoping is that it's a result of people having a different mind set about jobs and knowing that can demand something better.

[area51]

31. I wish that were true. n/t

[captain queeg]

5. Its a good move. "tight labor market' is being thrown around a lot nowadays

The part about low pay is understood by all, but not articulated in certain circles.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

7. That must cost Walmart less than offering a decent starting wage...

[Lars39]

8. and health insurance

[Sgent]

32. Of course

and they don't have to pay FICA, FUTA / SUTA, and W/C on those wages either.

That said there is a major shortage, especially in rural areas, for people with degrees in cybersecurity -- and Walmart needs them. If an associate wants to transition it helps walmart and the associate to pay for the schooling.

[Scrivener7]

10. That's great. But do most of their employees still qualify for food stamps? If so, WE are

the ones providing this (which is fine with me) not Walmart. And I would prefer that we give them a living wage and benefits.

I hate to be negative about this but, seriously, just freakin' pay people enough for a full time job to live a life. Out of your billions in profits.

[Nululu]

11. Online learning. They aren't offering any college or university.

Just online which may present problems for students wanting to transfer credits or for advanced degrees.

[Hoyt]

12. Hope some young workers take advantage of this so that they have a better chance at good jobs.

Minimum wage increases are needed, especially among small businesses that haven't committed to $15+/hour.

But why limit oneself to low paying jobs if there is help to advance?

[tenderfoot]

14. Too bad paying their employees decently is out of the question.

eom

[Sherman A1]

34. Precisely

But of course the Walton Family needs that money for more homes and airplanes.

[abqtommy]

15. My WalMart cynicism runs deep and this won't change that.

[NullTuples]

16. Sure you can go to school if you want but your shift schedule is still unpredictable

[catrose]

18. Yes, you must be available for us to schedule you 24 hours a day.

[George II]

20. Good, positive news, too bad so many have to piss on it. What's interesting is this program....

....has been in effect for three years with a small fee with little notice.

It appears now they're eliminating the approximately $300/yr fee.

[mcar]

23. Yeah I figured the pissing would happen

Article also said that they are raising wages - obviously not quickly enough, but it's happening.

They are committing to a billion dollars to this project. Like I said, credit where it's due.

[samplegirl]

28. Walmart really

trying to break away from their evil
Legacy?

[LudwigPastorius]

29. Hopefully, the employees who take advantage of this will...

become educated enough to be able to get far away from frickin' Walmart.

[Hekate]

30. I worked my way thru college in retail, which paid (and pays) diddly-squat. Walmart is offering...

… a powerful incentive. This is a terrific program. Good for them.

[pwb]

33. They should offer Counties the money they pay for their employee health benefits?

Get your people out of the system and I may shop there more.

[GB_RN]

35. As This Usually Counts As Income For The Employee

Who’s paying the resultant taxes, Walmart or the employee who decides to take advantage of it? My guess is it’s the employee and they suddenly get a tax bill at the end of the year, that they likely weren’t expecting.

[TexasBushwhacker]

40. It would be a taxable fringe benefit

It's not wages though, so it isn't subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes.

[GB_RN]

41. Right

I've had to pay taxes on stuff like this before, so I'm fairly familiar with having to pay those taxes. I was prepared for mine, but getting the surprise bill, if you're not well informed/prepared, isn't fun (I got a surprise bill on another tax issue).

I somehow doubt that Walmart is going to be paying that bill for its employees, and I doubt they'll do a lot of education on the fact that this is a taxable benefit, either. Probably in the fine print that most employees won't read.

[TexasBushwhacker]

42. I don't like that they are requiring that employees

have to go through high cost, private online schools. We gave a perfectly good community college system here in Houston, as well as University of Houston. They both offer lots of degree plans, and frankly, a degree from U of H is worth a lot more than one of those private online schools. This sounds like a scam to me.

[GB_RN]

43. "Sounds Like A Scam..."

If it’s through private, online schools, you’re probably right. I’d be willing to bet that Walmart gets a kickback on this…

[TexasBushwhacker]

44. That's what I was thinking

The full tuition will show up on their books and on the employees' W2 though. You'd better believe it.

[GB_RN]

45. No Doubt.

And I wouldn’t want to get one of those W2s at the end of the year, when I was filing, and expecting a refund…

[ShazamIam]

36. Oh what the hell, those are all scam and for profit only institutions.

Betsy DeVos probably give WalMart a list of approved institutions. I know many employers don't recognize those universities.


Two edits that basically rewrote the entire comment.