Walmart proves it is ‘forever grateful’ by hiring and promoting hundreds of thousands of military veterans

Superstore giant Walmart has recently hired 265,000 military veterans and promoted 44,000 more as part of their Veterans Welcome Home Commitment program. 

The program, which was launched on Memorial Day back in 2013, guarantees a job to any eligible, honorably discharged US military veteran. The original hiring goal was set at 100,000 veterans, but Walmart expanded that goal to 250,000 in 2015, a goal that they have recently surpassed. In addition to the 265,000 veterans hired since 2013, Walmart has also promoted 44,000 of those veterans to to positions with greater responsibility and higher pay, reported Fox 35.  

“We’re forever grateful to our veterans for their service, and it’s an honor to offer them opportunities at Walmart,” said Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon in a statement. “To reach this goal so quickly says a lot about our company as a great place to work and build a career. I’m proud of the commitment we’ve made to veterans and their families, and I’m thrilled that so many have decided to join us. They are critical to helping us achieve a more diverse and inclusive future.”

To add to their VWHC project, Walmart introduced the Military Spouse Career Connection program on Veterans Day in 2018, which provides employment opportunities to the families of veterans in addition to the veterans themselves. Since its start in 2018, the MSCC program has hired over 31,000 relatives of veterans and continues to lend hiring preference to military spouses applying for a job. 

But that isn’t all that Walmart is doing for our veterans. Brynt Parmeter, a veteran and the senior director of Walmart’s military programs, says that Walmart is looking into new ways to give back to veterans, including a potential partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide education for veterans through certifications and “upskilling” opportunities.

In addition to these initiatives, Walmart is looking to expand Walmart Health clinics to provide mental health resources and begin a hiring initiative for medical personnel transitioning out of the Department of Defense, and is even interested in expanding opportunities for veteran small business owners to share their products and services. 

“We’re so proud of all of the leadership throughout the Walmart enterprise and many of the decisions that were made for people to join our organization from the military community,” added Parmeter. 

“Having [veterans] in those front-line roles is just another way to serve and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of such a great organization that’s doing these things for all of us.”

“We think that expanded approach across employment, entrepreneurship, learning, health and wellness will be more holistic,” Parmeter added. “It’ll let us tackle things in a much broader way and it’ll help us think of ways to contribute to economic opportunity and well-being beyond just employment.”

Since 2011, Walmart has supported programs offering job training, education and public and private community-based initiatives for veterans and military families by investing more than $40 million.