Walmart doubles down on health, giving 3,000 pharmacy workers a promotion and a raise of up to 86%—with no college degree required

After a week of major layoff announcements from Amazon, UPS, Pinterest, and Nike, at least some American workers got some welcome news on Thursday: Walmart is promoting 3,000 of its pharmacy workers across nearly 4,600 U.S. locations, and some will receive up to an 86% raise. 

The world’s largest retailer and top Fortune 500 company has promoted these workers to pharmacy operations team lead positions that pay an average of $28 per hour, with the potential to earn up to $42 per hour. Pharmacy technicians now make an average of $22 per hour, and can earn up to $40.50 per hour—an 86% pay increase. 

What’s also encouraging in an era in which younger generations are starting to question the return-on-investment for higher education is that these jobs don’t require a college degree. Walmart fully funds the certifications, with more than 22,000 associates having been trained since 2016.

Assuming these employees work a standard 40 hours per week, they could earn more than $87,000 per year. That’s nearly 34% more than what ...