In recent news, Walmart, the largest private employer in the world with over 2 million employees, announced that it would increase its minimum wage to $14 an hour—lifting its average hourly wage to $17.50 an hour. Walmart also expanded its on-going education programs for its workers financing college degrees and certifications, and to meet their need for truck drivers the company announced certificate and training programs with a starting salary of around $100,000 a year. In a similar fashion, Amazon, the second largest employer in the world, announced a $1 billion dollar plan to attract blue-collar workers with wage increases as well as attractive training and benefit packages last fall. At the same time, the company has slashed management jobs and may delay the construction of its second headquarters in Washington, D.C. to reduce spending.