Walmart cutting corporate jobs, recalls some remote workers (Updated)

Editor’s note: Story updated with statement from Walmart.

Several hundred jobs are being cut at Walmart’s home office and its global tech operations. The layoffs in Bentonville began Monday (May 13), according to people familiar with the matter. Merchandising operations are being reorganized with some cuts in associate merchant jobs.

Updated info: Walmart Chief People Officer Donna Morris sent the following statement Tuesday (May 14) to employees.

“It has been a little over four years since we faced the global pandemic that reshaped our lives in many ways, including our ways of working. In February 2022, we made the decision to bring Home Office associates back into our campus offices. We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster. We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates.

“With the goal of bringing more of us together more often, we are asking the majority of associates working remotely, and the majority of associates within our offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and our Toronto Global Tech office, to relocate. Most relocations will be to our Home Office in Bentonville, but some will be to our offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken/New York.

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

“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.”

Sources familiar with the action said some Walmart merchandising employees in Bentonville were laid off Monday but will stay on the payroll until early August. The employees can either find a different position or accept severance by that date. If taking severance, they can’t apply to Walmart for two years. Walmart will also connect them with a third-party job search coach.

The Global Tech division is also being impacted by layoffs with offices in Atlanta, Dallas and Toronto being closed. All employees are being laid off, with some offered the option to relocate to Bentonville, according to postings on TheLayOff.com on Monday.

Walmart also is reportedly calling back most of the employees who have worked exclusively remotely, such as software engineers, noting that some will be allowed to work remotely part-time. Employees are being asked to relocate to Bentonville, but they could request a move to Sunnyvale or Seattle.

Walmart has said it will keep offices in San Bruno, Seattle, Hoboken and Bentonville.

The Bentonville-based global retailer also is closing more stores citing poor performance. Walmart has previously said it is closing eight stores, with six in California, one in Maryland and one in Columbus, Ohio. This comes of the heels of Walmart closing its 51 healthcare centers and its virtual care division. Also, Walmart in January shuttered its Store No. 8 tech incubator with around 300 people in the unit moving to other jobs in the retailer’s technology and innovations operations, according to published reports.