Walmart laying off, relocating hundreds of corporate employees

Walmart on Tuesday told employees that it will trim hundreds of roles and move most corporate workers to one of three main offices as it seeks to bring people back to working in-person following the coronavirus pandemic.

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In a memo sent Tuesday to employees and obtained by CNBC, Walmart Chief People Officer Donna Morris said the changes stem from a February 2022 decision to bring corporate employees back to the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters in the wake of the pandemic.

“We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us collaborate, innovate and move even faster,” Morris said. “We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates.”

Walmart said it is asking remote workers and those employed in the company’s small offices in Atlanta, Dallas and Toronto to relocate to one of the company’s central hubs, The Wall Street Journal reported. The retailer said it will still allow staff to work remotely, though only if they spend most of their time in the office.

While most people affected will be asked to move to Arkansas, some will be allowed to relocate to Walmart’s offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken, New Jersey. An unidentified source told Reuters that remote workers were given until July 1 to decide whether to move or to quit with severance.

“In addition, some parts of our business have made changes that will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles,” Morris said Tuesday, according to CNBC. “While the overall numbers are small in percentage, we are focused on supporting each of our associates affected by these changes.”

She did not elaborate on what roles were impacted, though she said, “We have had discussions with associates who were directly impacted by these decisions.”

“We will work closely with them in the coming days and months to navigate the best path forward,” she added.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the world and the largest private employer in the U.S., with 2.1 million employees globally, according to Reuters.

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