Walmart and other US companies want to build a pipeline of skilled tradespeople
Source: AP
Updated 5:10 AM EST, December 20, 2025
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — As the number of skilled tradespeople dwindles in the United States, Walmart is trying to build up its own workforce to keep conveyor belts moving, refrigerated grocery cases cold, and drains and parking lots flowing.
The nation’s largest retailer and private employer revamped its training program last year to increase the pipeline of maintenance technicians who do everything from repair equipment to electrical work at Walmart’s distribution centers and stores — jobs that have become increasingly difficult to fill because of a shrinking labor pool.
The shortage has opened opportunities for people like Liz Cardenas, 24, who started at Walmart in May 2023 as an automation equipment operator at a distribution center in Lancaster, Texas, making sure boxes were securely taped and went through a conveyer belt upright. Today, she is responsible for fixing conveyor belts and other equipment when they break at distribution centers.
Cardenas, who nearly doubled her hourly pay to $43.50 per hour, said she plans to pursue more training, which will mean an even higher salary and more responsibility. It also means financial freedom.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/skilled-trades-labor-shortage-walmart-maintenance-5ab4bf643840a6a49660aa96bf32223b
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with respect to the consequences of their wishes (and assumptions that they would be "exempted" ). 
