Wal-Mart adding 10,000 retail jobs

FILE - In this May 16, 2011 file photo, the Wal-Mart logo is displayed in Springfield, Ill. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, that it’s kicking off its so-called “Cyber Monday” deals at 12:01 a.m. EST Friday for the first time ever as it aims to grab customers ahead of its competitors. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)
FILE - In this May 16, 2011 file photo, the Wal-Mart logo is displayed in Springfield, Ill. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, that it’s kicking off its so-called “Cyber Monday” deals at 12:01 a.m. EST Friday for the first time ever as it aims to grab customers ahead of its competitors. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will add 10,000 retail positions in 2017, the Bentonville-based retailer said in a news release Tuesday.

The new positions will come from previously announced plans to open 59 stores, expand and remodel others, and new e-commerce services. The retailer also said 24,000 construction jobs will be supported by those efforts.

Dan Bartlett, Wal-Mart's executive vice president for corporate affairs, said in a news release the company is "investing to better serve customers." Wal-Mart employs about 1.5 million U.S. workers.

"With a presence in thousands of communities and a vast supplier network, we know we play an important role in supporting and creating American jobs," Bartlett said in a statement. "Our 2017 plans to grow our business ... will have a meaningful impact across the country."

The job creation announcement comes nearly a year after Wal-Mart announced plans to close 154 stores, which affected about 10,000 employees. The retailer also eliminated 7,000 back-office office positions late last year in efforts to improve efficiency and streamline operations. Wal-Mart also said it plans to open fewer stores than in previous years during fiscal 2018, which begins Feb. 1, and is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs at the corporate level as it restructures operations.

But spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said news about jobs being affected doesn't always mean there is a reduction in the headcount at the retailer. Lopez said the rate of new hirings remains consistent with previous years.

Kathy Deck, a University of Arkansas economist and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, said it's not unusual to see job creations and eliminations at the same time at Wal-Mart.

"There's nothing contradictory about both adding jobs in one capacity and losing them in another," Deck said. "And it's not just about Wal-Mart. All organizations have overhead and all organizations have administration and all organizations have a whole structure in place to make sure they function correctly. It's a continual struggle to make that right."

Wal-Mart is not the first company to emphasize a commitment to U.S. workers since Donald Trump won the presidency Nov. 8. The president-elect, who will be sworn in Friday, has not been shy about offering compliments and criticisms via social media. Several companies have announced the creation of new U.S. jobs this year.

Earlier this month, Ford Motor Co. said it was canceling plans to build a plant in Mexico and would instead make a $700 million investment in Michigan, which would result in 700 new jobs. Amazon.com also said last week it planned to create more than 100,000 U.S. jobs in the next 18 months.

Wal-Mart's announcement got Trump's attention Tuesday. In a Twitter posting, he thanked Wal-Mart and General Motors for "starting the big jobs push back into the U.S."

General Motors said Tuesday will invest $1 billion in its U.S. factories and add thousands of U.S. white-collar jobs in moves that it said have been in the works for years.

Michael Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said his "somewhat cynical side" sees the announcements as companies deciding now is the time to reveal good news. There's no problem with those announcements as long as they're not "cooked up" for appearance.

"The only downside I would think of is if announcements -- not necessarily this one -- are made not in the context of good business decisions but rather to curry favor with the new administration or to avoid being bullied," Pakko said. "Then it's not a great sign for the health of the economy."

Wal-Mart did not mention Trump in its news release. Neither did Lopez, who said the company has a "track record" of talking publicly about the impact its stores have on job growth, job creation and communities throughout the country.

"We're very proud of the role we play," Lopez said.

Wal-Mart said Tuesday that it plans to devote $6.8 billion in capital expenditures in the U.S. in fiscal 2018, which includes the construction and remodeling of stores and distribution centers as well as the expansion of services like online grocery pickup, in which customers order online, employees gather the items and the customer collects them in a pickup lane. The company said it will open 160 training academies this year to add to its 40 existing ones, with 225,000 employees scheduled to receive up to six weeks of specialty training in 2017.

Wal-Mart also repeated its pledge buy $250 billion more in American-made, grown, assembled and sourced products by 2023. The Walmart Foundation will provide $3 million in grants through the U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund to six universities advancing sustainability and innovations in textile manufacturing.

"I do think there's nothing wrong, of course, with pointing out some good news," Deck said. "But in a dynamic economy we sure better hope there are jobs being created by our largest employers as a matter of course."

Business on 01/18/2017

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