Retail giant Walmart (WMT) is planning to open a new global technology hub in Toronto and hire hundreds of workers in the city.
Walmart says it has chosen Toronto and Atlanta, Georgia as technology hubs because of their broad and diverse local talent pools.
The initial hiring phase in Toronto will include 45 full-time roles in software development, technical program management, and product management. Initial hiring in Atlanta is expected to include 140 new 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 customers.
The company also says that the development of this technology hub will keep technology talent in Canada. The expansion is part of Walmart’s plan to hire more than 5,000 employees globally this year.
The addition of Toronto and Atlanta will increase the number of Walmart’s global technology hubs to 16, including Seattle and Chennai, India that launched last year. The number of global technology employees increased 26% last year to 20,000.
Walmart's 2020 decision to spend $3.5 billion in Canada over five years came as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated e-commerce trends and pushed more people to shop online.
Walmart is also spending heavily to renovate 150 stores across Canada.
