According to a report, Walmart is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs and will force its teleworkers back to the office.
The wholesaler asked employees at its corporate headquarters in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto to transfer to one of three large offices across the country. One office is in Bentonville, Arkansas, another in Hoboken, New Jersey, and a third in Southern California, according to the Wall Street JournalIf they do not agree with the move, they can resign with severance pay.
Teleworkers will also be required to return to work, but will be allowed to work on a hybrid schedule, the report said.
In January, Walmart employed about 2.1 million people.
According to Reuters, those who leave the company will receive two weeks’ salary for each year of service.
Employees have until July 1 to make their decision.
The cuts come as spending on nonessential groceries in America continues to shrink due to rising costs. Walmart is expected to report its first-quarter results on Thursday. News of the cuts had caused the company’s shares to fall 1.2 percent on Tuesday.
But layoffs and staff consolidation aren’t the only signs that Walmart is struggling; the retail giant closed over 20 stores last year and will close more locations this year.
“These stores lose tens of millions of dollars annually, and their annual losses have nearly doubled in the last five years alone,” Walmart said in a press release in 2023 after closing stores in Chicago.
Since the beginning of the year, at least six Walmart stores have been closed in the United States. Most of these stores were in California, while two others were closed in Maryland and Ohio.
In addition to closing stores, Walmart decided last month to close all 51 Walmart Health Centers and Walmart Health Virtual Care services. The company reportedly concluded that the business model was not sustainable. Workers affected by the impending closures will be offered the opportunity to transfer to a Walmart or Sam’s Club store.
Walmart began offering healthcare services in 2019.
Even if the health centers are closed, the company will continue to operate its 4,600 pharmacies and over 3,000 vision care centers.
Walmart isn’t the only retailer cutting jobs; Indeed announced Monday that it would lay off 1,000 employees worldwide, or about 8 percent of its workforce.
Rivian Automotive, a maker of electric trucks, announced on April 24 that it would lay off more than 120 employees at its California facilities. The layoffs will begin in June.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced it would cut hundreds of jobs at its Amazon Web Services unit, and Elon Musk fired and reportedly rehired the Tesla Supercharger team.
