Walmart Inc. has picked Atlanta, Ga., and Toronto, Canada's largest city, for a pair of new global tech hubs, with plans to hire hundreds of workers at the two sites. The company says it chose both locations because of their growing tech sector presence and their broad and diverse local talent pools, reports Bloomberg.
"We are excited to join the vibrant and diverse tech communities in Toronto and Atlanta," said Suresh Kumar, chief technology officer and chief development officer at Walmart. "Work from these new hubs will impact millions of lives and transform the future of retail."
The initial hiring phase in Toronto will include 45 full-time jobs in software development, technical program management and product management. Initial hiring in Atlanta is expected to include 140 full-time roles.
Walmart says deploying the latest technology is part of a $3.5 billion investment for Canada announced in 2020 to make the online and in-store experience simpler, faster and more convenient for its customers, reports Bloomberg. The company also says that the development of this technology hub will keep homegrown tech talent in Canada.
The expansion is part of Walmart Global Tech's plan to hire more than 5,000 employees globally this fiscal year.
The addition of Toronto and Atlanta will increase the number of Walmart Global Tech hubs to 16, including Seattle and Chennai, India that launched last year. The number of global tech employees increased 26 per cent last year to 20,000.
"Canada has a dynamic and world leading tech community powered by talented people and innovation that is recognized on a global scale," stated Nicolai Salcedo, chief technology and data officer of Walmart Canada in a news release.