Walmart presses ahead with new HQ plan despite Covid-19 crisis

The US retail giant unveiled plans last year to open a new 350-acre base in Bentonville, Arkansas – the city where it was founded and is currently headquartered.

The project is expected to open in stages and be completed by 2025.

The development had been called into question amid the coronavirus pandemic but Walmart chief executive Doug McMillion said the business has “noticed things that were missing” at a time when the majority of its central office employees are working from home, rather than in the office.

Speaking at Walmart’s annual shareholders’ meeting, which is being held virtually as a result of the health emergency, McMillon said: “As this crisis has gone on, we’ve noticed things that were missing. How do you get to know people? How do you get a sense for what the culture is like? The culture inside a company is such an important aspect.”

He added: “In a post-vaccine world, we’re going to need office space and people are going to collaborate. Being present with each other is going to matter over time.”

Walmart executive vice president of corporate affairs Dan Bartlett said there was still time for changes to be made to the new office’s design to reflect any long-lasting impact of the coronavirus crisis and better reflect how its staff wanted to work in the future.

He said such design modifications could be made without “disrupting the overall time frame of the project”.

Walmart wants to launch the new-look head office site in a bid to better compete with the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple as it seeks to bring in the best tech and digital talent.

The new HQ is set to include more green space, outdoor meeting rooms and biking paths – Walmart wants 10% of its 14,000 central office employees to cycle to work.