This was my immediate first thought, retention and loyalty.
A few months ago my mother retired from Wal-Mart after working as a manager for 30+ years, and I've heard all the "fun" stories. Just about every trope regarding lazy, slack ass workers who routinely no-call-no-show, get fired, then somehow rehired six months later is true. There are good employees, to be sure, but they're greatly outnumbered by the unmotivated, and unwilling.
I see this as a way to pull in and retain driven employees, no different than a software company sponsoring scholarships at a university and simultaneously offering internships / future employment. You'll select for the more driven, hard-charging folks and, hopefully, engender a positive opinion of your company in the eyes of the recipients.
What about the lazy, slack ass management that routinely yank hours, refuse to give full-time hours that offer health insurance?
It's not always everything, but having a manager who was once in the shit usually makes a big difference. Hopefully this program will get more folks who have worked their way up the ranks and know what works so there's better, more informed, and more compassionate management at the store level and higher.
Working for Walmart isn’t a fantastic experience, but promoting from within is a great practice they have.
A close friend of mine from high school started worked at Walmart while attending University. Interestingly enough, she was a business undergrad and, as you suggest, she was shortlisted to management before even finishing her undergraduate degree. She went on to get an MBA and went corporate within Walmart and is still there today, nearly 20 years later.
> The college subsidy will give them more managers with ground floor experience.
Given the above anecdote, I wonder if their decision to subsidize college is just tied to how grossly expensive an undergraduate degree is today vs. yesteryear.
In any event, they will continue to pull managers from the "competent" pool of employees internally and get good PR at the same time.
It's not.
One of the 3 colleges in this new program is Univerity of Florida, which charges $6,381/yr, before substantial financial aid offering. https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmp...
Walmart isn't worried about losing the people shopping at Walmart. They just need to continue to sell cheap food, clothes, and household things in order to keep them.
Walmart has always promoted from within. I bet very few people have worked part time in Walmart for 1+ year while going to college for a business degree and not been shortlisted for a promotion. The college subsidy will give them more managers with ground floor experience.
Walmart is very concerned about how to grow their customer base. You see this with the 2day online shipping, site to store, and their grocery pickup program. The increase in wage is a direct attempt to increase employee retention and attract better employees. This is about growth, not loss prevention.