Walmart Promotes 500 Employees a Day. Inside Its Two-Step Test.

By Daniel Okafor

Walmart promotes about 500 employees every day, according to a Business Insider report. The retailer employed about 2.1 million people worldwide as of January 31, including 1.6 million in the U.S. and 500,000 internationally, according to its fiscal 2026 annual report.

The 500 figure anchors Walmart’s internal-mobility pitch. Business Insider does not attach a role, location or promotion-type breakdown to it. Workers therefore cannot tell from the report where those promotions occur.

What does Donna Morris look for before a promotion?

Walmart chief people officer Donna Morris told Business Insider that employees must first excel in their current roles. She described high performers as workers who deliver strong work and make meaningful contributions.

“They are focused as much, if not more, on being exceptional at what they’re doing today,” Morris told Business Insider.

Morris said workers should then take on higher-level work, suggest improvements and volunteer for new projects. These assignments test whether they can handle the broader duties that come with a higher position.

“Be the person that asks or provides volunteerism for new ideas or new initiatives,” Morris said.

The sequence places performance before title. Strong work establishes the baseline; added responsibility supplies the evidence. Her account presents a two-step test. Morris did not describe a formal scoring system.

For candidates, Morris told Business Insider she looks for evidence that they worked through challenges rather than gave up. She said people should take on more than expected, which connects her hiring standard to the broader assignments she wants employees to seek.

What does the work involve before advancement?

Walmart recruiting materials, as quoted by Business Insider, describe associates locating products, packing online grocery orders, getting orders to customers and answering questions on the sales floor. Walmart says the pace can become intense on evenings, weekends and holidays.

In Morris’s framework, those duties form the first test. Employees must show skill in finding products, filling orders and answering customer questions before they seek a broader assignment. The advancement case rests on evidence from the current role.

Walmart’s corporate website says U.S. associates receive their first promotion in nine months, on average. A nine-month average comes three months before the one-year mark. The two disclosures cover different measures: time to a first promotion for U.S. associates and the number of companywide promotions each day.

What do Walmart employees earn?

Walmart’s corporate website lists three pay markers:

• The average U.S. hourly employee earns more than $18.50 an hour.
• Team-associate roles pay $14 to $37 an hour, depending on position and region.
• Supply-chain employees earn an average of $27.50 an hour.

Walmart said $18.50 represents an average across workers, not a guaranteed offer to a new hire. Pay varies by position and region, so the range gives a job seeker more information than the average alone.

Can hourly work lead to management?

Approximately 75% of Walmart’s U.S. salaried store, club and supply-chain managers started their careers in hourly positions, the company said. Associates in those management roles earned an average of more than $123,000 in FY2025.

Walmart said workers build transferable experience by leading there. More than 115 former Walmart employees advanced to CEO roles at other companies over the past decade, according to the retailer.

The 75% figure describes where current managers began. It does not show what share of all hourly workers reach management. The $123,000 average applies to the cited management roles, not to every hourly position.

What is the next checkpoint for internal mobility?

The next test for Walmart’s internal-mobility claim is whether workers keep turning strong performance and wider responsibility into promotions at the rate Business Insider reports.