Walmart Lays Off 200 Corporate Employees As Demand Weakens: Report

Walmart is tightening its belt a week after cutting its annual profit forecast for the second time in less than three months

Walmart Inc., American multinational retail corporation, is laying off about 200 corporate employees as it struggles with soaring costs, bloated inventories, and weakening demand for general merchandise, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

According to the report by the news agency, the termination of jobs include staffers in last-mile delivery and merchandising, Bloomberg reported quoting sources familiar with the matter. The report stated that the US retail giant will also add an unspecified number of jobs in areas such as e-commerce, health and wellness, ad sales, and supply chain, a source told Bloomberg.

Walmart in an email said, “We’re updating our structure and evolving select roles to provide clarity and better position the company for a strong future. At the same time, we’re further investing in key areas and creating new roles to support our growing number of services for our customers, suppliers and the business community.”

The company is tightening its belt a week after cutting its annual profit forecast for the second time in less than three months.

US consumers are pulling back on clothing and durable-goods purchases as surging inflation raises the cost of food and basic items. That’s prompting Walmart to cut prices on general merchandise even as grocery sales, which are less profitable for the retailer, continue to rise.

The shares of Walmart fell less than 1 per cent in extended trading in New York. Walmart has dropped 9.8 per cent so far this year, while an S&P 500 index of consumer-staples companies slipped 2.9 per cent, the Bloomberg reported.

Walmart employs over 100,000 management and professional workers in the US, according to a federal filing. The company, US’ largest private-sector employer, has a total workforce of almost 16 lakh people.

Jennifer Bartashus, a retail analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said trimming the corporate workforce isn’t an unusual move for Walmart. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based firm sacked hundreds of corporate jobs around the same time of year in 2020.

“While job cuts are always a difficult decision, Walmart’s growth as a technology-focused company has likely helped introduce more efficiencies and productivity into its operations,” Bartashus added.