Take Jason Helm, for example: He has an accounting degree. But that all changed when he moved to Florida and found maintenance — and more importantly, fell in love with it.   

“I was doing the student housing when people moved in, and we had a whole list of things to fix,” Helm said. “Me and my supervisor from Alabama fixed everything in that apartment. And there was a whole family of grandparents and little kids and cousins — and everyone was so happy, like instantly, all these people. They were so upset, and we changed all that. And that's when I fell in love with maintenance — making people happy.”  

Helm eventually joined Walmart in 2023 and immediately began seeking opportunities to level up and grow his career in facility services. When he learned of the A2T program, he was eager to join.   

Now? He’s the lead technician for Walmart’s exterior services, with a truck, and is responsible for an entire team of techs and 12 company stores.   

“I was just a lowly developmental tech just changing air filters and cleaning rooftop units … told that most stuff was too dangerous for me to touch or work on. But once I started learning in the A2T program, everything changed for me,” Helm said.   

TRAINING DAY: Walmart’s Associate-to-Technician (A2T) program blends hands-on and classroom learning to associates pursuing skilled trades careers. (Courtesy of Walmart)

During the A2T program, students engage in both hands-on learning and classroom learning — 70% hands-on, and 30% in the classroom — covering things like OSHA safety, HVAC, electrical fundamentals, refrigeration, and troubleshooting.  

“Our pilot class celebrated 108 associates who completed the Dallas-Fort Worth six-month pilot program,” said a Walmart associate. “Every associate who graduated secured a technician role, paying up to $45 an hour. That's a great win for associates. Due to the success of that pilot, we expanded to Vincennes, Indiana, and graduated the first class of associates there.”   

The program’s expansion into Jacksonville, Florida, kicks off in late August.   

By 2030, Walmart has set the goal to put 4,000 associates through the program — creating 4,000 new techs.   

“We have consistent listening and feedback sessions with associates and are always gathering their insights,” said the Walmart associate.   

The hands-on training the A2T program provides techs was pivotal for Helm.   

“One week we traveled to Dallas, and we learned on hands-on, and to me that was super valuable because you can immediately take [what you learned] back to your hometown stores,” Helm said. “Me, personally? I was able to help all the senior techs more and more as I kept coming back from learning on the different trips.”  

The biggest and most valuable lesson Helm learned through the program was safety. Once he mastered that, things really started to change for him. What once was too dangerous for him to touch, became his strength.   

“Once I learned safety and the voltage and how electricity works, it just opened that door up — and then I learned sequence operations,” Helm said. “So, I started learning how to diagnose and break down the situations/issues, and quickly started to learn how to find out what's wrong with the systems and fix/repair them.”  

During his time in the program, Helm learned how to read and decipher schematic diagrams. He learned electricity. He learned HVAC. He even learned how to recover and reclaim refrigerant — something he said was “absolutely golden.”   

“That is big time,” Helm said. “Now I'm able to help my top senior technicians and make their jobs easier. … Everything that we learned, we learn in just days. People were telling me I needed to go to school for years, and through this program, I learned so much valuable stuff in just days.”  

Maybe the most valuable and life-altering thing Helm got from the training program was confidence. Without gaining that, he likely wouldn’t have been entrusted with his current role.  

“My manager had so much confidence in me, and once I finished the program, he decided to make me a lead manager … and I learned how to lead,” Helm said. “After the program, I earned the respect of my coworkers. … My family is so happy for me now. I can't even put a price on that. They're seeing my success, and my coworkers are just really proud of me … I got a huge raise, I got a huge bonus — all of this — I wouldn't have the chance if I didn't start the program.”