Walmart is expanding its debt-free upskilling programs that train frontline associates for higher-paid roles, with its flagship Associate to Driver program having moved more than 1,000 employees into driving jobs since launching in 2022. First-year drivers in the program can earn up to $115,000 annually and more experienced drivers up to $135,000, according to the company, while drivers across Walmart's Private Fleet of more than 17,000 drivers earn an average of about $109,000. The retailer has also launched Associate to Technician and Associate to Optician pathways, with the technician program having already trained and placed about 600 of a committed 4,000 technicians by 2030, and the optician pilot, launched in June, estimated to save each participant about $20,000 in tuition. Walmart Chief Talent Officer Lorraine Stomski said the programs connect training directly to jobs the company needs to fill, and the Associate to Driver effort was sparked partly by an American Trucking Associations estimate of an 80,000-driver shortage in 2021 and an upcoming wave of Walmart driver retirements. The push comes as the average total cost of a four-year degree reaches $108,584, according to the Education Data Initiative, and only one in four adults without a college degree believe people can access an affordable, quality education, according to a Gallup and Lumina Foundation report.
Walmart Inc.Walmart expands debt-free training pathways (Associate to Driver/Technician/Optician) to fill in-demand roles like drivers amid an 80,000-driver shortage and retirements, easing its labor supply constraints.
