Walmart’s plan to upskill America’s biggest private workforce for the AI era

Walmart is moving to future-proof its 2.1 million-strong workforce as AI reshapes retail, expanding skills-based hiring and in-house certification programs while preparing an AI training track in partnership with OpenAI. CEO Doug McMillon said turnover is easing and wages continue to rise as associates adopt productivity tools that “plus up” roles rather than replace them, with change likely to come faster to office jobs than frontline positions. The company has already redeployed labor toward higher-value tasks—more than 200,000 workers now pick online orders—while pushing store management and technical trades as durable, well-paid career paths. Walmart convened more than 300 employers and experts to promote skills-first pathways, arguing transparency and cross-company collaboration will be essential to navigating AI’s impact on jobs.

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