Wal-Mart Gives More Than $157 Million in Bonuses to Associates

Last week, Wal-Mart gave a share of more than $157 million to more than 850,000 employees in the U.S. These cash bonuses were based on their stores’ performance in the fourth quarter. The bonuses were awarded on the heels of Wal-Mart U.S. recording its strongest comp sales performance of the year in the fourth quarter at 1.8 percent. For the full fiscal year, U.S. associates shared more than $700 million in bonuses.

Total Retail’s Take: Wal-Mart has invested billions of dollars in training, education and higher employee wages over the past two years. The company has opened 40 Training Academies to offer employees the skills, knowledge and tools to help them grow and provide the best service to customers. The retail landscape is changing, so employees need to able to adapt to the new technology-enabled age of retail.