Walmart Layoffs: 200 Corporate Workers Lose Their Jobs

Arkansas -- Arkansas -- Walmart on Wednesday began laying off 200 corporate workers from its merchandising, global technology and real estate units, according to a report.

The layoffs affect employees from Walmart’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters as part of the brand’s effort to “restructure,” people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

Despite the layoffs, Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield said they will be opening jobs in parts of its business that are growing, such as the supply chain, e-commerce, health and wellness and advertising sales. However, Hatfield refused to confirm how many positions were being opened.

“We’re updating our structure and evolving select roles to provide clarity and better position the company for a strong future,” Hatfield said in a statement to Axios. “At the same time, we’re further investing in key areas like e-commerce, technology, health and wellness, supply chain and advertising sales and creating new roles to support our growing number of services for our customers, suppliers and the business community.”

News of Walmart’s layoffs comes after the company in July said it is expecting a drop in profits in the second quarter of 2022 and the 2023 fiscal year. The company cited food inflation as the reason, noting that it is affecting the consumers’ abilities to spend money on other types of goods. As a result, the company said it is seeing a higher cost for storage and shipping containers as inventories remain high, which is driving down their margins.

“The increasing levels of food and fuel inflation are affecting how customers spend, and while we’ve made good progress clearing hardline categories, apparel in Walmart U.S. is requiring more markdown dollars,” the company said in a statement.

Walmart also released a memo the same day it announced an expected drop in profits. The memo directed the retail giant’s store managers to implement a rollback on summer items in hopes of off-loading bloated inventories, as reported by The Business Insider.

The publication in July also published an in-depth report where it said pallets of merchandise had rendered floors unwalkable and towering boxes blocked paths to bathrooms and breastfeeding rooms. The report cited store-level employees at Walmart as the source.

Other high-profile companies have also announced layoffs amid the high inflation. In late July, convenience store chain 7-Eleven cut about 880 corporate jobs in the U.S.