Wal-Mart HQ adding information-tech jobs Retailer seeks hundreds at home office

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will add hundreds of new information technology jobs at its home office in Bentonville this year, the company said Wednesday.

John Simley, a company spokesman, said no specific number would be released. Wal-Mart also said it intends to work with information technology firms in India to help support its operations around the world.

Simley said the expansion of information technology staffing is not tied to any new initiative the company is launching.

"There are a lot of innovations in technology that position Wal-Mart to better serve our customers, and we need additional IT professionals to support those applications," Simley said. "As the company grows, and as we employ new technologies, we need people to administer them." The new positions range from entry-level to "highly experienced," he said.

Wal-Mart employs more than 12,000 people at its home office and 1.3 million nationwide. The company recently began moving some of its apparel design jobs, numbering less than 200, from the home office to New York.

Wal-Mart's plans were welcome news in the region and across the state.

"These are the types of jobs we're trying to recruit, that we're trying to create, that will have a big impact on per-capita income," said Joe Holmes, spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

Last year's information technology graduates at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, surveyed after they found employment, reported starting salaries of $50,000 to $60,000 a year, said Bill Hardgrave, executive director of the university's Information Technology Research Center.

Master's degree graduates reported salaries about $5,000 to $10,000 higher, he said.

"Frankly, we're experiencing a shortage of IT employees, not just in Northwest Arkansas but across the nation," he said. "The demand for IT workers continues to grow at Wal-Mart and elsewhere." Those with experience in the university's Radio Frequency Identification lab are in even greater demand, Hardgrave said. Wal-Mart is pushing its suppliers to make greater use of RFID tags, which can be read by scanners to track product movement in distribution centers and stores.

One undergraduate student with RFID lab experience took a job last year at a $73,000-a-year starting salary, Hardgrave said.

"We have companies who are waiting for our students to finish their degrees," he said.

Wal-Mart is known in the retailing world for collecting and using vast amounts of data to keep its stores supplied and inventory under control.

Northwest Arkansas, like many other regions in the nation, is dealing with a glut of houses on the market after the collapse of the subprime mortgage business. The most recent Skyline Report, which tracks residential and commercial construction in Benton and Washington counties, showed more than 2,200 finished but unoccupied homes.

The multi-list service that real estate agents use showed 4,068 listings in Benton County and 2,398 in Washington County on Wednesday. Those numbers include homes still occupied by the sellers.

An influx of new information technology jobs would likely reduce the inventory of unsold homes and lead to additional jobs, said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University.

"There's always a multiplier effect on jobs like this," she said.

The job growth also should give the region a "psychological bounce," said Ed Clifford, president and chief executive officer of the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce.

Wal-Mart, which is preparing to enter the retail market in India with partner Bharti Enterprises, said the nation is one of several that could handle some of Wal-Mart's information technology activities.

"Today IT is truly a global business and as we deepen our relationship with India, it only made sense that we take advantage of the 24-hour development cycle that India offers," Michael Duke, Wal-Mart vice chairman in charge of international operations, said in a statement released in New Dehli.

Wal-Mart shares closed at $49.70 Wednesday, up 4 cents in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have traded as high as $51.48 and as low as $42.09 over the past year.

This article was published 02/21/2008