Walmart Expands In-House Career Pathways to Train Opticians

Walmart has launched a program that helps its associates become opticians in a Walmart Vision Center or a Sam’s Club Optical Center.

The new Associate to Optician program offers associates who work outside its vision care centers the opportunity to earn a fully funded associate degree in optical science through Walmart’s Live Better U education benefit while completing hands-on clinical training, Walmart said in a Monday (June 29) press release.

The program is available to associates at no cost, and it saves them the $20,000 in education costs they would incur for certification outside the program, according to the release.

Licensed opticians at the Walmart and Sam’s Club vision care centers currently earn an average starting wage of about $33.75 per hour, per the release.

“A great fact about our first Associate to Optician cohort is that it includes associates with tenure at Walmart ranging from one year to 30 years,” Donna Morris, executive vice president and chief people officer at Walmart, said in the release. “That reinforces our belief that learning is continuous, and it is always the right time to explore your next career interest.”

The Associate to Optician program builds on Walmart’s Associate to Driver and Associate to Technician program, according to the release.

Associate to Technician creates pathways into skilled trades careers around HVAC, refrigeration and electrical systems. Walmart is now expanding this program with a new training site in Atlanta and a new pay structure that includes, for example, a 40% higher pay range for the general maintenance technician role in Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club Real Estate Facility Services.

Associate to Driver was the retailer’s first pathway program, and it has helped more than 1,000 associates earn their commercial driver’s license (CDL) while remaining employed and paid throughout the training.

When Walmart announced an expansion of Associate to Driver in January 2023, the company said that after associates complete the 12-week training course and earn their CDL, “they have a coveted Walmart driving job ready to step into.”

In the Monday press release, Morris said: “When we invest in helping associates build skills, earn credentials and pursue new opportunities, we strengthen our business while creating pathways for people to build lasting careers.”