Walmart Reshapes Workforce, Shuts Offices As It Consolidates Operations

Zinger Key Points

Walmart cuts corporate jobs and asks employees to relocate to Arkansas or California to consolidate its corporate footprint.
Walmart closes its Charlotte office and continues shifting workers to central hubs, following last year’s relocations from Dallas and Toront

Walmart Inc WMT downsized its workforce by hundreds and urged its employees to move to central offices in Arkansas or California.

The retail giant told its Hoboken, New Jersey, and other smaller office employees to relocate to its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, or Sunnyvale, California, Bloomberg cited from a memo.

Walmart’s Donna Morris said the move aimed to consolidate its corporate footprint.

Also Read: Nintendo Q3 Revenue Drops, Cuts Outlook and Dividend, Switch Sales Slow Ahead of Next-Gen Console

Walmart is also shutting down its Charlotte, North Carolina office, slashing corporate roles.

Last year, Walmart asked employees in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto to move to more prominent hubs, with most going to the main office in Bentonville.

Walmart has begun opening its campus in Bentonville and will have new office spaces in Sunnyvale and Bellevue, Washington, in 2025.

Recently, Walmart raised bonus and stock awards for regional store managers as it struggled to fill managerial roles at retailers and restaurants.

Recent reports indicated that the e-commerce retailer Amazon.Com Inc AMZN is closing down its brick-and-mortar stores as they have failed to yield returns.

Since early 2023, it has reduced its Amazon Go stores by about half to 16 stores in four states and is licensing its “Just Walk Out” technology to other retailers instead, the Wall Street Journal reports. It has also shut down dozens of its other branded retail stores lately.

Kohl’s Corp KSS recently laid off 10% of its employees, equivalent to 400 employees, shortly after Ashley Buchanan took charge as the new CEO. The downsizing coincided with its plans to shut down its San Bernardino E-commerce Fulfillment Center (EFC) in May. The company’s third-quarter print and fiscal outlook disappointed the Street.

Recently, Walmart Canada committed $6.5 billion to its operations over the next five years, including launching five new Supercentres by 2027, shortly after Amazon announced withdrawing its operations in Quebec.

Walmart stock surged over 79% in the last 12 months. Last December, Jim Cramer said he liked Walmart amid reports indicating that the retailer provides body cameras to store-level employees across the U.S. under a pilot program.

Price Action: WMT stock is up 1.25% at $102.23 at the last check on Wednesday.

Also Read: