Retail giant, Walmart, which recently took over Flipkart, has unveiled a new associate education benefit programme for its employees in partnership with Guild Education. The objective is to train and educate workers to advance in the jobs of today and be ready for the future.
For a contribution of just a dollar a day, a Walmart employee can earn a college degree. Walmart will take care of tuition, books and fees. This means that Walmart employees will not need to take a student loan—and thus avoid thousands of dollars of debt. Employees can also earn college credit for paid training at Walmart Academies, saving them substantial time and money.
Walmart has collaborated with the University of Florida, Brandman University and Bellevue University — all chosen for their focus on serving working adult learners — to tailor the curriculum to relevant skills for jobs and advancement across retail and other industries.
Working with these universities, including both selective and open-access programmes, Walmart will provide all employees a place to start. The goal is for all employees who apply for admission to be accepted. These universities have a programmatic dedication to high graduation rates for their students.
Guild Education will help employees with everything from selecting the right degree and getting credit for prior college and work experience to academic counselling.
The benefits also go beyond college degrees. Be it employees who are just starting out or working toward executive level, Walmart will offer job-related skills training to aid in career advancement.
High school diplomas and GEDs are covered for associates and eligible family members. This new programme opens access to tuition discounts, financial aid and education coaching across a network of more than 80 accredited, non-profit university partners.
Employees will also have access to professional development courses, including college prep, leadership training and English as a second language.
“Investing in the personal and professional success of our associates is vital to Walmart’s future success. We know training and learning opportunities empower associates to deliver for customers, while growing and advancing in their careers,” says, Greg Foran, CEO of Walmart US.
“Walmart has kicked off what might be the nation’s most scalable approach to creating educational opportunity for America’s workforce, now available to its US associates and their families,” said Rachel Carlson, chief executive officer and co-founder of Guild Education.
Walmart has even got an independent evaluation of the outcome of its new offering. The Lumina Foundation has agreed to research and measure the impact and effectiveness of the programme and will work with the Walmart team to share findings.
These programmes are available to full-time, part-time and salaried Walmart US store, supply chain, home office and Sam’s Club associates.