The world’s biggest retailer Walmart is planning to hire 2,000 technology experts this year to support its efforts both offline and online.
The hiring binge will support Walmart’s efforts to expand its online business and embed in-store technology, such as robots that scrub floors and scan shelves.
The retailer’s new digital tools include algorithms that help store associates pick online orders faster by mapping the optimal route through the aisles.
The recruitment will expand its battle against Amazon to capture the best talent beyond technology hotbeds like Sunnyvale, California, where both companies have offices, and into emerging corridors like Northern Virginia.
It is looking for data scientists, software engineers, designers and others to work in nine offices from Silicon Valley to Bangalore, said Walmart Chief Technology Officer Jeremy King in an interview.
The retail technology group that King leads currently has about 7,500 employees after hiring 1,700 last year, he said.
