PENSACOLA — More than 1.2 million U.S. Walmart and Sam’s Club associates, including more than 7,400 in Northwest Florida and more than 93,600 in Florida, received a pay raise in their March 10 paycheck.
The increases were part of the company’s two-year, $2.7 billion investment in higher pay, better training, clearer career paths and additional educational opportunities for its workers.
Walmart associates are eligible for quarterly cash bonuses based on their store’s performance. For the full fiscal year, Walmart associates across the country earned more than $550 million in bonuses, including $65.1 million in Florida.
In addition to higher wages, the March 10 paycheck for eligible Florida associates included a share of the more than $20.9 million bonus earned in the fourth quarter.
One of the associates receiving a pay increase is Thomas Daniel Wright. A former ground-to-air operator in the U.S. Marine Corps, Wright started working for a Walmart in California in 2013. He returned to the Pensacola area, where he was born and raised, shortly thereafter to be with family, transferring to the Walmart in Pace.
“What impressed me most about the company was the active involvement with their people and the community,” said Wright, who is now a team supervisor. “The sky’s the limit. You can move yourself up, and that’s what I love about this company.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 7,400-plus Northwest Florida Walmart associates get cash bonuses