Wal-Mart Plans to Increase Worldwide Work Force

Bloomberg is reporting big news from Wal-Mart. The world’s largest retailer said at its annual shareholder meeting Friday that it plans to create 500,000 jobs over the next five years in order to spur global sales.

While the majority of the hires will be in international markets, CEO Mike Duke said U.S. hiring will be dependent on the company opening more stores in urban areas. The markets slated for rapid growth are Mexico, China and Brazil, where Duke said sales are on the increase.

Wal-Mart has more than 2 million employees worldwide.  U.S. stores chief Eduardo Castro-Wright told shareholders that U.S. same-store sales are expected to come in somewhere between a decline of 2 percent to an increase of 1 percent in the second quarter.