An international retailer is maintaining its efforts to provide employment opportunities to military veterans looking to make the transition from service member to civilian.

In 2013, Walmart administrators announced that its locations would be placing an emphasis on hiring more military veterans through the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. Director of Communications Tiffany Wilson said the commitment guarantees jobs to eligible veterans across the nation.

“The commitment came at a time when veteran unemployment was at an all-time high, and Walmart leadership recognized the important skills and abilities veterans brought to the workforce as well as the opportunity to ease their transition back to civilian life,” Wilson said.

In order to receive an honorable discharge, service members must earn a good to excellent rating for their time in service. Service members who are discharged involuntarily for physical or psychological concerns that render them incapable of performing their duties are also, more often than not, given honorable discharges.

Five years after the announcement of the initial program, Walmart extended the commitment to include employment opportunities for military families and created the Military Spouses Career Connection on Veterans Day in 2018. In the more than two years that the program has been around, the company has hired over 31,000 associates.

In order to be eligible, veterans must have received an honorable discharge. In 2014, of the 207,000 discharged service members, over 90% received honorable discharges, according to the Department of Defense.

With a goal of hiring 250,000 military veterans nationwide, Walmart successfully on-boarded over 2,400 Utah veterans as company associates in 2020. These associates are shared between Walmart and Sam’s Club locations. Additionally, over 44,000 associates were promoted to higher-paying jobs.

“It is our duty and our honor to support our military not only when they are in uniform but also when they transition to civilian life,” Wilson said. “We are committed to helping these men and women as they face this important period through job opportunities, as well as support for programs that provide job training, reintegration support and education.”

U.S. Army Reserves Sgt. Christopher Corbin is one of the thousands of military service members Walmart hired in Utah.

He joined the military as a human resources specialist to serve his country, also aware of the benefits service members can receive, such as funding for higher education and health insurance.

“They’re open to helping us get placed into jobs because sometimes it can be difficult transitioning from the military to civilian life,” Corbin said. “They made that an easy transition for me.”

Less than a month ago, Corbin returned from his deployment in Cuba, where he spent about 380 days.

In the Army Reserves, service members are required to attend drill one weekend out of the month with a two-week training once each year. For the rest of the time, Army reservists essentially live as civilians unless deployed.

When making the transition back to civilian life, Corbin said Walmart and its employees treated him like he never left, and he was able to pick back up without question.

Corbin said his time in the military not only helped prepare him for his position as a co-manager at Walmart, but also that the position has made him a better human resources specialist in the military.

In working at Walmart, Corbin said he has learned more about efficient communication and leadership.

Military veterans experience homelessness at a notable rate, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, with 37,085 veterans reporting experiencing homelessness on a single night in January of 2019, which was down over 2% from the previous year.

Of that, 22,740 veterans reported finding a shelter, while 14,345 veterans were unsheltered, and over 90% of the homeless veterans were reported to be men.

Military veterans must navigate the lack of affordable housing and economic hardship that civilians face in addition to the challenges brought on by deployments.

Efforts to support military veterans, Wilson said, by providing employment opportunities have not been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and economic recession.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Walmart has seen a significant increase in traffic to its store locations as well as increases in the number of pickup and delivery orders.

“Walmart remains committed to fostering a military-friendly community that helps veterans and their spouses improve both economic opportunity and overall well-being,” she said.

While she has heard of layoffs across a number of industries, Wilson said the company is continuing to hire in an effort to meet the growing demand. In fact, since March 19, Walmart has hired over 200,000 associates nationwide to fill positions in stores, clubs and distribution centers.