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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, plans to increase its workforce by 36 percent in the next five years as global economic growth boosts spending.
New employees will be hired “mostly” outside the U.S., Susan Chambers, executive vice president for human resources, said in a speech at a conference in New Delhi today. “The opportunity for growth is not just in India but global,” she said, without providing more details on the hiring plans.
Wal-Mart plans to have 3 million workers in five years, up from 2.2 million now, Chambers said. Overseas sales for the world’s largest listed company by revenue have grown 91 percent in the last five years to $100.1 billion, almost triple the pace in the U.S., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“It’s another nod to international growth as opposed to a U.S. focus,” said Brian Sozzi, an analyst at Wall Street Strategies Inc. in New York. “It seems there is a real internal push to guide market expectations towards Wal-Mart’s international opportunity, in an attempt to re-energize the stock.” He recommends holding the shares.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer is boosting overseas expansion to offset slowing growth in the U.S., where same-store sales, which strip out the effects of new outlets, have fallen for five consecutive quarters. Wal-Mart plans to enter Africa by acquiring Massmart Holdings Ltd. in a transaction worth about $4.6 billion.
‘Adjust Model’
“This points to much more aggressive growth outside the U.S., both through organic store expansion and acquisitions like Massmart,” analyst Colin McGranahan of Sanford C. Bernstein in New York said in an e-mail. “It means Wal-Mart is going to be even more complex and needs to adjust its model to address local market employee issues.” He rates the shares “market perform.”
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, or Cosatu,
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