Walmart Lays Off 450 at Home Office

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. laid off 450 workers at its Bentonville headquarters Oct. 2.

The layoffs were across all areas in the company, from finance to global e-commerce, and represent the largest cuts at headquarters since 2009, according to The Associated Press.

Walmart did not put out a press release on the cuts, but CEO Doug McMillon sent a memo to employees.

“Our customers are changing. Retail is changing and we must change,” McMillon wrote, according to the AP. “We need to become a more agile company that can easily adapt to shifting customer demand … This is an important time in our history — requiring all of us to think critically about our business and not be afraid to challenge the status quo.”

The layoffs were announced less than two months after the retailer reported less-than-expected earnings in August, which analysts tied to higher wages for hourly workers and increased investment in e-commerce.

Each worker will get 60 days’ pay, with benefits, and also a severance package of two weeks’ pay for each year of employment, according to the AP.

University of Arkansas economist Kathy Deck says the layoffs should not negatively affect the region as a whole.

“Walmart’s restructuring does absolutely nothing to weaken Northwest Arkansas’ potential as a job-creating machine,” she said, at the annual State of the Northwest Arkansas Region luncheon in Lowell on Oct. 2.

“Real people will be affected, and I never want to forget these are real people’s lives,” she said, adding that those employees should be able to find other work in the region.

“In fact, we want Walmart to run right, to try to pursue its own strategic visions and have the right resources in place to be a successful company over the long-term,” she said.