Walmart’s global technology operations to go on hiring spree
Walmart is ramping up its Walmart Global Tech arm by hiring more than 5,000 associates and adding new locations in Toronto and Atlanta.
"I am excited to share that Walmart Global Tech is doubling down on our greatest asset – our people," Suresh Kumar, executive vice president, chief technology officer and chief development officer of Walmart, said in a statement.
Kumar went on to say that the company is hiring more than 5,000 associates globally this fiscal year and adding hubs in Toronto and Atlanta, "two cities with formidable tech talent and strong ties to Walmart. I’m always in awe of how many lives and communities are changed by the work we do at Walmart. The cutting-edge tech we build makes life better for customers and members, further empowers our associates and unlocks new value for our business. Just as our tech stack is the foundation of every tech-enabled app, product or service, our associates enable all that we achieve with technology. That’s what being a people-led, tech-enabled company is all about."
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In addition, Kumar shared that Global Tech is the fastest-growing corporate team at Walmart and that its technologists have a legacy of game-changing innovations, including making Universal Product Codes the standard in retail, developing one of the most sophisticated supply chains and launching satellite communication in the early 1980s.
"Today, Walmart Global Tech develops and manages the foundational technologies on which customer experiences are built, including cloud, data, enterprise architecture, DevOps, infrastructure and security," Kumar said. "We’re also a world-class enterprise services organization that develops solutions to help 2.3 million Walmart and Sam’s Club associates work and live better."
Walmart Global Tech now includes more than 20,000 associates globally. "More technologists are choosing to build impactful careers with us, and we continue to invest in our current associates. In the last fiscal year, we grew by 26% and 20% of our team earned a promotion," Kumar said, adding, "This year, we’re focused on hiring cybersecurity professionals, architects, developers, software engineers, data scientists, data engineers, technical program managers and product managers. Our growth includes entering new locations and expanding our presence in communities we call home."
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Kumar went on to say that the company chose Atlanta and Toronto as its newest tech hubs because of their growing tech presence, connection to Walmart and broad, diverse talent.
Walmart has a strong presence in Toronto and the city is home to 26% of Canada’s tech workforce, Kumar said. "Each year, 25,000 students in the area graduate from STEM-related fields. We plan to make Toronto one of our major Walmart Global Tech hubs, with plans to create several hundred new tech jobs in the next 12 months – all in support of keeping local talent on Canadian soil."
Kumar shared that Walmart Global Tech will begin with 45 full-time associates, primarily software developers, product managers and technical program managers. In addition to the hundreds of jobs Walmart Global Tech is planning in Toronto, Walmart Canada is investing $1 billion in technology and other areas such as refurbishing local stores, Kumar noted.
"Walmart’s decision to make Toronto the home of one of its larger tech hubs with hundreds of jobs to come is another vote of confidence in our city's thriving tech sector," John Tory, mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said. "As mayor, I am committed to supporting our technology sector and continuing to encourage companies to locate here and hire here. This is all part of our non-stop effort to ensure that Toronto comes back stronger than ever."
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"Atlanta is a major location for both Walmart and the cybersecurity industry, with growing strengths in software engineering, AI, machine learning and data science. The city’s talent pool is supported by strong local universities with the highest growth of tech graduates in the U.S. Our first hiring phase in Atlanta includes 140 new full time associate roles such as data scientists and software engineers. Our new team will join more than 70,000 Walmart associates currently based in Georgia," Kumar said.
Lastly, Kumar said that the role for the Atlanta and Toronto teams are posted and the company will announce more in the coming months. Both teams will work virtually in the near-term and will eventually transition to a hybrid way of working as Walmart identifies physical space for routine collaboration, personal development, networking and culture building.