Walmart Inc. said it would pay another round of bonuses to U.S. workers as the retailer, like rival Amazon.com Inc., seeks to retain and reward staffers managing a surge in sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

Walmart said it would pay $300 cash bonuses to full-time workers and $150 bonuses to part-time associates in the U.S. on Dec. 24. Last week, Amazon.com said it would pay its employees a round of cash bonuses.

It would be Walmart’s fourth special cash bonus paid to U.S. staff since the start of the pandemic. The company said the Christmas Eve bonuses will cost $388 million. Walmart also paid $319 million in regular quarterly bonuses on Nov. 24, which the company has long paid employees based on store performance.

Walmart has reported strong sales and profits in recent quarters even as it invests in bonuses, cleaning and other coronavirus-related operational changes. It booked a profit of $15.6 billion for the nine months ended Oct. 31, compared with a $10.7 billion profit in the same period a year ago.

Walmart and other big-box retailers are benefiting as shoppers flock to stores offering food, one-stop shopping and online-order pickup. Including typical quarterly bonuses, Walmart said it has paid more than $2.8 billion in cash bonuses this year.

The company said about 1.5 million workers would get the latest bonuses, including staff at Walmart stores and distribution centers and its Sam’s Club warehouse chain. Drivers and assistant managers would also receive a special cash bonus, it said.

Walmart currently plans to reopen its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters in July of next year, a spokeswoman said. Like many U.S. businesses, most of the company’s corporate staffers have been working remotely since the spring.

From the Archives

Walmart said its e-commerce revenue jumped 97% from a year ago. The company reported in its second-quarter earnings that sales have grown due to its online supply chain and grocery business. WSJ’s Sarah Nassauer reports. Photo: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters (Originally published Aug. 18, 2020)[object Object]

Like Amazon, Walmart has been hiring aggressively this year to handle the increased business.

Amazon said last week it would give staff a December bonus of $300 for full-time workers and $150 for part-time workers. Its last coronavirus related bonus came in June. Target Corp. has also given several bonuses to store and warehouse staff and earlier this year raised its starting wage to $15 an hour as its sales rose during the pandemic.

Amazon has rapidly expanded its workforce during the pandemic, closing the gap with Walmart, which has long been the largest private employer in the U.S.

Amazon said in October that it had nearly 1.4 million U.S. front-line workers, including Whole Foods staff and temporary workers, nearly doubling its workforce since late March.

Walmart employed more than 2.2 million world-wide as of Jan. 31, including about 700,000 international staff, according to its annual report. Walmart’s international workforce is expected to drop after selling operations in various countries, including Japan, Argentina and the U.K.

Walmart also said Thursday that it would extend a coronavirus leave policy to U.S. workers through July 5, 2021, given the continuing pandemic. The policy gives full- and part-time staff up to two weeks of pay should they need to stay home for reasons related to Covid-19, including mandated quarantines or symptoms of the illness.

Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com