Walmart gives Samsung phones to employees in exchange for their free will

Walmart has announced that it is launching a new Me@Walmart app for its associates and will provide new Samsung Galaxy smartphones to more than 740,000 employees.

The Me@Walmart will allow associates to perform daily work tasks such as clocking in, scheduling, and quick communication with push-to-talk. The app even includes voice assistant features with Ask Sam so employees can ask various questions about merchandise or metrics.

Employees will be limited to the Me@Walmart app while clocked in, and it will use geofencing so that employees will only be able to clock in while physically at work.

The capabilities within the Me@Walmart app are built in-house by our product, technology and design teams and apply best-in-class technology, like machine learning, augmented reality, camera vision and artificial intelligence to tackle complex problems.

The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro will be provided to employees, along with a case and protection plan. The phone was released in the U.S. in early 2020, and while it may not be as powerful as a Samsung Galaxy S21 on the inside, it makes up for it on the outside with its rugged built.

The Galaxy XCover Pro features IP68 water and dust resistance and MIL-STD-810G certification, which are ideal when used in working situations. It has a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with a hole-punch selfie camera, dual cameras at the rear and is powered by an Exynos processor. It’s an otherwise average smartphone but is one of the best rugged Android phones available.

Walmart employees will be able to use the XCover Pro as their personal devices as well, and Walmart states that employee privacy will be protected so it won’t have access to their personal data.

As the world’s largest public employer, Walmart hopes that the move will help the company make better use of some of the latest tech to empower its employees and help them be more efficient.

As retail continues to evolve — and quickly — it’s more critical than ever to equip our people with the tools and technology they need for success.