Walmart To Pay Complete College Fees Of Employees

(RTTNews) - Retail giant Walmart Inc. (WMT) said on Wednesday that it would pay complete college tuition and books costs at certain schools for its U.S employees. This latest move by the company is seen as a way to offer higher benefits to its workers and retain them in an uncertain job market.

The company would cover the fees for 10 academic partners like the University of Arizona and Southern New Hampshire University. Employees must be either part-time or full-time workers at Walmart for them to be eligible for the fee payment program. This year, Walmart has added four new academic partners and is offering more degree and certificate options in fields like business administration, supply chain and cybersecurity. Walmart has also offered incentives so that the program can attract the maximum number of people. Employees who have participated in the program are twice as likely to get promoted and are retained at a "significantly higher rate" than other workers, Lorraine Stomski, senior vice president of learning and leadership said. The step by Walmart to pay 100 percent tuition fees comes even as retailers around the country are facing challenges to hire people for staff stores and warehouses. In May, there were 974,000 unfilled jobs in the retail industry, according to the latest information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The partners of this program include Johnson & Wales University, The University of Arizona, The University of Denver, Pathstream, Brandman University, Penn Foster, Purdue University Global, Southern New Hampshire University, Wilmington University and Voxy EnGen.