Walmart employee nearly doubled her pay after entering its pipeline for skilled tradespeople

The nation’s largest retailer and private employer revamped its training program last year to increase the number of maintenance technicians who do everything from equipment repair to electrical work at Walmart’s distribution centers and stores — jobs that have become increasingly difficult to fill due to shrinking workforces.

The shortage has opened up opportunities for people like Liz Cardenas, 24, who started at Walmart in May 2023 as an automation equipment operator at a distribution center in Lancaster, Texas, making sure boxes were securely registered and passed through a conveyor belt upright. Today, she is responsible for repairing conveyor belts and other equipment when they break down in distribution centers.

Cardenas, who has nearly doubled her hourly wage to $43.50 an hour, said she plans to pursue more training, which means a higher salary and more responsibility. It also means financial freedom.

“I was able to move out of my parents’ house,” she said. “I have my own apartment. I was able to get a car, and I’m able to give more to my 401(k).”

Analysts say rising retirement rates, coupled with an immigration slowdown that began during the pandemic but is now accelerating with president Donald Trump’s aggressive deportations, are among the main factors behind a labor shortage that is overwhelming some employers.

But in skilled trades, the problem is more severe. Consulting firm McKinsey analyzed 12 types of trade job categories, including maintenance technicians, welders and carpenters, and projected an imbalance of about 20 jobs per net new employee from 2022 to 2032.

McKinsey noted that the “extraordinary rate of change” could cost companies more than $5.3 billion annually in talent acquisition and training costs alone.

The shortage is occurring at a time when some companies are also laying off workers amid rising operating costs due to new tariffs, shifting consumer spending and increased spending on artificial intelligence.

The Business Roundtable, a lobbying group made up of executives from about 150 companies representing millions of employees across the country, in June launched a new initiative to address worker shortages in skilled trades, including maintenance technicians. The initiative, co-sponsored by home improvement retailer Lowe’s, entails working with elementary, middle and high schools to raise awareness.

“While technology continues to evolve, it cannot replace plumbers, electricians, construction workers, maintenance and repair professionals or other tradespeople,” said Marvin Ellison, chairman and CEO of Lowe’s.

For its part, Lowe’s in 2022 began a 90-day online training program for employees who want to pursue careers like carpentry and facility maintenance. Separately, its philanthropic arm has invested $43 million since 2023 in 60 organizations including technical colleges and non-profit groups to help recruit and train skilled trades such as maintenance technicians and plumbers.

Mervyn Jebaraj, of the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, noted that these programs will help alleviate the shortage, but they will not eliminate the gap, especially in light of Trump’s campaign against immigration.

“As long as someone actually needs to fix this, the shortage will continue, although it will alleviate some of the shortage at the margin,” he said. “We don’t have enough people.”

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon recently told The Associated Press that he believes part of the reason for the shortage is a “lack of awareness.”

“I think most Americans probably don’t know what the technology that helps patronize our stores and clubs is made of, and that we can help them learn how to become technology,” he said. “So we need to get the word out so people know there are some great jobs out there.”

Walmart revamped its training program in the spring of 2024, focusing on its workers with a free training initiative in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This year, it added new training sites in Vincennes, Indiana, and Jacksonville, Florida. The initiative combines hands-on training and classroom learning in areas such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, electrical work and general maintenance.

As of mid-November, nearly 400 employees have graduated from the program, Walmart said. With the first class of 108 associates who completed the pilot program in Dallas/Fort Worth, each graduate secured a technician role, putting them on track to earn an average of $32 per hour. Walmart said its goal is to put 4,000 workers in the training program by 2030.

RJ Zanes, vice president of facility services for Walmart and Sam’s Club’s U.S. divisions, said Walmart has been able to attract workers from all over the country with different backgrounds, including employees who man cash registers.

Maintenance Technician roles are essential to keeping Walmart operations running smoothly, but especially during the holiday season. For example, if the refrigeration system breaks down inside a Walmart store, the lost product could cost as much as $300,000 to $400,000, according to Zanes.

“We have to stay out of this,” he said. “We have to make sure we have the right skills to do preventive maintenance and, when we have a breakdown, to make sure we get it back up and running as quickly as possible to reduce the cost of downtime.”