Walmart said it's seen an increase in demand for hair dye and sewing machines as Americans remain locked in their homes in this time of global pandemic - and the retailer giant has its hands full trying to keep its shelves filled with lots of toilet paper.
In the past three weeks, the company has hired around 100,000 new employees to help keep stores packed and meet online orders during the crisis, Corporate Executive Vice President Dan Bartlett told Courtney Reagan of CNBC.
In March, Walmart announced it would hire around 150,000 new associates to work in stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers by the end of May.
Executive vice president for corporate affairs Dan Bartlett said they don't have problems getting that many new workers. "We will easily reach 150,000," he said, adding that the company will do an evaluation to figure out if they need to do more.
Bartlett stated that a good number of the jobs are on a temporary basis, but 10 to 15 percent are permanent. He also said that many of the company's new personnel come from heavily-affected sectors and need a job to weather the storm "until their regular jobs return online."
Walmart is one of the US retailers that saw a rise in revenues when Americans purchased more grocery and household goods to prepare for long stays at home. It is among the important retailers that have remained open as other companies have partially shut down and terminated or furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers from the department stores to restaurants.
In other developments, at an investment conference organized by the Wuhan city government on Wednesday, Walmart's China branch reported that it is committing 3 billion yuan ($425 million) to extend its presence at the coronavirus pandemic's origin point in the next 5 years.
The business will set up at least four new Sam's Club outlets, 15 new shopping malls, and more community shops in the capital of China's Hubei province, based on a report by Walmart China. In the city, where the global coronavirus pandemic first erupted in December, the US- based retailer already has 34 stores and two distribution centers.
For more than 15 years, the company has been doing business in Wuhan and considers itself as part of the Wuhan society. At the Cloud Supplier Conference Thursday, Wern-Yuen Tan, President and chief executive of Walmart China, signed a strategic cooperation plan with the Wuhan Municipal Government and said that the agreement marks a "new milestone" between the US retail giant and a fresh start for "a win-win situation."
