Walmart Joins Silicon Valley in Courting Moms Returning to Work

The technology arm of Walmart Inc. is joining a growing industry effort to address both the war for talent and a lack of diversity by recruiting tech professionals who have left the workforce and want to come back.

Walmart Labs, the retailer’s engineering skunkworks in Sunnyvale, California, is starting a so-called returnship program, initially targeting 20-30 workers to start in September, said Bobbie Grafeld, who leads human resources for Walmart Labs and for the company’s U.S. e-commerce team. They’re targeting people with five or more years of experience who want to come back to work after taking time off to care for children, elderly parents or for other personal reasons -- a group that typically includes more women than men.