Walmart is a people-driven success story, and we’re proud of the opportunity we offer our associates. For some, opportunity looks like part-time work to build their finances. For others, it’s a chance to gain new skills or to begin a long-term career. We provide pathways to opportunity through access, growth, choice and impact.
Retail is often an entry-level job for many – and we’re proud that we provide access to hope and opportunity. Walmart U.S. offers competitive wages and benefits that fall within the top half of the retail industry. We offer our eligible hourly store associates quarterly cash bonus opportunities, a health care plan that starts at $17 per pay period, a 401(k) with a company match, a discount on merchandise, training and development opportunities, and, most of all, a chance to move up the ranks and build a career. In FY2014, Walmart U.S. hired more than 500,000 new associates into good retail jobs in their communities.
Entry-level jobs often lead to bigger jobs. At Walmart U.S., associates have the potential to climb the ladder from stocker to department manager to store manager and beyond. Depending on the time of year, there are between 15,000 to 50,000 job postings. In fact, in FY2014, we promoted about 170,000 people to jobs with more responsibility and higher pay. About 75 percent of our store management teams started as hourly associates and their average pay ranges from $50,000 to $170,000 annually. Our highest-earning store manager in FY2014 made more than $250,000. We have more points of entry for people than any other organization for those who want to serve our customers.
On Memorial Day 2013, we launched the Welcome Home Commitment. As the unemployment rate for recent veterans continues to hover around 10 percent, we don’t believe veterans should have to fight for jobs at home after fighting for their country abroad. So we’re committed to offering transitioning veterans a true welcome home through possibility and opportunity. We projected that we’d hire more than 100,000 eligible honorably discharged veterans over five years, many within their first 12 months off active duty. We’re already well on our way. In the first eight months since our announcement, we hired 32,000 veterans into our stores, clubs and distribution centers. This commitment continues to bolster our position as the largest private employer of veterans in the country. In addition, we’re joining forces with the White House and retailers across the nation to build upon this commitment to train and employ America’s returning heroes.
We continue to broaden and accelerate our commitment to diversity and inclusion through a focus on building a diverse workforce, nurturing an inclusive culture and empowering our associates to make a difference in the lives of our customers. We’re proud of our commitment to associate development and community outreach, as more than 50,000 field managers actively sponsor associates in their business areas and participate in diversity events in their stores and communities. Walmart U.S. remains committed to increasing the representation of women and people of color throughout our organization. In FY2014, we increased representation of women and people of color across all store management roles (store manager, shift manager, assistant manager). In FY2014, we drove the greatest year-over-year female and people of color store manager headcount increase in five years.
We leveraged our development programs to create a diverse pipeline and accelerate readiness of our associate talent. In fact, women and minorities represented more than half the high-potential participants in our FY2014 Leadership Academy, which serves as our premier accelerated management program. Walmart U.S. also creates intentional sponsorship and exposure opportunities for diverse talent through programs, such as Champions in Development and Develop 2 Lead. In FY2014, more than 72,000 female and people of color associates were sponsored through these programs. To continue to drive a diverse workforce, we’re focused on intentional recruiting efforts. In FY2014, we accelerated our efforts, almost doubling the female and people of color external store management hires year-over-year.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion starts at the top, through the engagement of our senior leaders. More than half of Walmart U.S. business unit presidents, divisional senior vice presidents and regional vice presidents are women and/or people of color. Our senior leadership sets the tone by integrating diversity and inclusion into business strategy as the foundation for our commitment to customer service and associate development. In FY2014, our leaders drove the highest engagement and inclusion survey scores in our history.