Walmart has designed inclusive uniforms for workers, ranging from a 'women's cut vest' to a 'hard of hearing or deaf vest'
- Walmart displayed seven types of store-level employee vests at a meeting for managers in Florida.
- The new uniforms included "maternity vests" for pregnant employees and "wheelchair user vests."
Walmart's store-level employees will soon have many more options for what kind of vest they wear as part of their work uniform.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant displayed at least seven inclusive uniforms for workers at its Year Beginning Meeting (YBM) for store managers and corporate employees in Orlando, Florida, this week, per photos shared with Insider by a meeting attendee and a social media post.
The vests displayed next to a sign that said "Our Best Vest Yet" were:
- Inside Medical-Device-Pocket vest
- Non-Zipper vest
- Maternity vest
- Short Stature vest
- Women's Cut vest
- Wheelchair User vest
- Hard of Hearing or Deaf vest
A Walmart spokesman said the vests will be distributed to store-level employees later this year and that the company took feedback from employees when designing the vests.
"We'll ensure we have vests for everyone," Walmart spokesman Nick DeMoss told Insider. "This includes associates of all statures, expectant moms, wheelchair users, as well as vests with text on the back indicating how to best get associate attention for those who are deaf or hard of hearing."
This is not the first time recently Walmart has made changes to its uniform.
In 2019, store-level employees received steel steel gray fabric vests made from recycled water bottles, and they had options to customize the vests in other ways for a cost of up to $11.
And the year prior, in 2018, Walmart relaxed its dress code and allowed employees to start wearing blue jeans and shirts of any solid color. Previously, starting in 2014, Walmart employees could only wear white or navy collared shirts with khaki or black pants and close-toed shoes.
Are you a Walmart employee who has thoughts about the new uniforms? We want to hear from you. Contact the reporter Ben Tobin over email at btobin@insider.com or on encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 703-498-9171.