Wal-Mart announced Wednesday, it will double what it spends with women-owned businesses, train women around the world and encourage major suppliers to use more women and minorities on work they do with the multi-national corporation.
The announcement, made by Chief Executive Mike Duke at the retailer’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, comes a few months after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a massive class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit brought by women working in the company.
Last year, Wal-Mart spent about $2.5 billion with women-owned businesses in the U.S. The plan is to spend $5 billion annually by 2016, and double its sourcing from international suppliers run by women, Duke said.
