Walmart is reportedly planning to reduce its corporate workforce by hundreds. The US-based retail giant has also asked its employees to move from remote working to offices.
Employees at smaller offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto are being urged to relocate to other main hubs like Walmart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville or Hoboken.
However, as per the report by the Wall Street Journal, the company will continue to allow its employees to work remotely part-time, provided that they spend the majority of their time in the office.
This cut comes at a time when companies across sectors, both internationally and domestically, are laying off their employees in massive numbers. Walmart is the latest to join the trail.
As of January 31, 2024, the company had around 2.1 million associates. Over the past year, Walmart has been taking steps to reduce its workforce. Last year, during April month, it announced plans for nearly 65 per cent of its stores to be operated by automation by the end of fiscal year 2026.
In February 2023, Walmart closed three of its technology hubs in the United States and asked hundreds of employees to relocate if they wished to retain their positions. This was largely done to push employees to start working from the office, according to Reuters.
As companies continue to look for ways to streamline their operations, coupled with the entry of AI and automation in the operational space, layoffs have increasingly become a common trend.
