Retailer plans to add more than 5,000 tech workers this year

BENTONVILLE, ARK — Walmart is establishing new global tech hubs in Atlanta and Toronto, and plans to hire more than 5,000 technology workers globally this fiscal year.

Walmart Global Tech plans to make Toronto one of its larger hubs, with hundreds of new jobs over time, the company said. The initial hiring phase is expected to include 45 full-time roles in software development, technical program management and product management. Initial hiring in Atlanta is expected to include 140 new full-time roles such as data scientists and software engineers.

“The cutting-edge technology we build for 230 million customers around the world is fueled by our greatest asset — our people,” said Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s executive vice president, chief technology officer and chief development officer.”We are excited to join the vibrant and diverse tech communities in Toronto and Atlanta. Work from these new hubs will impact millions of lives and transform the future of retail.”

Kumar noted that Walmart has a strong presence in Toronto and the city is home to 26% of Canada’s tech workforce.

“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. In the short term, we 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.

“Canada has a dynamic and world leading tech community powered by talented people and innovation that is recognized on a global scale,” said Nicolai Salcedo, Chief Technology and Data Officer, Walmart Canada. “It’s inspiring to see Walmart recognize the Canadian tech community and invest in further developing local talent with new opportunities that will be brought through this new tech hub.”

Kumar said 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,” he said. “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.

“We just posted our roles on our new Atlanta and Toronto teams and will announce more in the coming months. Both teams will work virtually in the near-term and will eventually transition to our hybrid way of working as we identify physical space for routine collaboration, personal development, networking and culture building.”

With the addition of the Toronto and Atlanta hubs, Walmart Global Tech will have 16 technology hubs, including teams in Seattle, WA and Chennai, India that launched last year. Walmart Global Tech is the fastest growing corporate team inside the world’s leading retailer. the company said, noting that in the last fiscal year, Walmart Global Tech grew by 26% to 20,000 associates and 20% of the Global Tech team earned a promotion.