Walmart again cutting hundreds of corporate jobs

Walmart is reportedly eliminating hundreds of jobs that support stores, market managers, and coaching positions around its training academies. The retail giant made the announcement Wednesday (July 16) and it was first reported by Bloomberg.

Walmart provided a copy of the internal email announcing the job reductions among market manager assistants and academy coaches. The positions being eliminated are in the around 200 Walmart academies and the more than 40 states where market managers are located.

The assistant role to market managers — a salaried position — is being eliminated companywide. Those losing jobs will be offered other jobs in their immediate areas. The phase out for the position will occur in August. Walmart said the assistant duties were being assigned to other employees.

The Walmart Academy structure is being adjusted to fit the training demand for each market. Walmart said some centers such as those in Dallas are busier and require more staff, while others in more remote areas can manage with less staff. Cedric Clark, executive vice president of Walmart store operations, noted in the email that each academy coach losing a job would be offered another position in a local store. He said those who do not wish to apply for, not accept roles within a store will be eligible for severance at the end of their search period.

“I want to be clear that these decisions are in no way a reflection on associate performance,” Clark said in the email note. “We care about these associates, and we want them to continue their careers with Walmart.”

The job reductions are part of Walmart’s ongoing corporate restructuring plan designed to streamline operations and decision-making hierarchy. The retailer said market coordinators and academy coaches would be guaranteed store-level coach roles in the local area.

Walmart unveiled the use of artificial-intelligence (AI) technology inside its training academies to the media during its recent shareholder week in June. The retailer is using AI to provide coaching for job applicants seeking to advance to a higher position. The retail giant is also using AI across its operations and has not yet clarified the role this emerging technology will have on its headcount over time.

A new report from McLean & Company said a growing number of companies are enacting workforce reductions under the notion of “optimization” directly tied to AI, even if they have not realized a return on AI investments.

“That said, we are seeing a clear shift in how AI is reshaping the workplace,” the Ontario, Canada-based human resources firm noted in its report. “Often, it is phased into organizations under the banner of innovation and efficiency. These transitions can be gradual and quiet, with companies increasingly moving toward AI-enabled systems — sometimes without fully acknowledging the human impact.”

This round of layoffs comes on the heels of around 381 jobs being cut from its corporate offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., in June. Walmart filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) in California on June 18, noting the layoffs would go into effect on Aug. 22. The layoffs came as Walmart moved into its consolidated offices in Silicon Valley.

In May, Walmart announced 1,500 jobs were being cut in its global technology operations, its U.S. e-commerce fulfillment, and its advertising business Walmart Connect.

To start the new year, Walmart announced some roles were being cut in North Carolina offices as part of a move to relocate employees to main hubs in California and Arkansas.