Walmart is boosting the wages of more than 7,000 pharmacists and opticians as it continues its push into retail healthcare.
Walmart's roughly 3,700 pharmacists now earn an average salary of more than $140,000, not including bonuses and incentives. The retail giant also plans to increase the pay of its more than 4,000 opticians to upward of $22.50 an hour on average and offer them free licensure and certification training.
"As our Health & Wellness business continues to grow, we're serious about being an employer of choice for the talented individuals in these fields," Kevin Host, senior vice president of pharmacy and David Reitnauer, vice president of optical, wrote in a May 31 Walmart blog post.
Walmart said in March that it plans to open 28 new healthcare clinics by the first quarter of next year.