Walmart Reportedly Slashing Jobs and Ending Remote Work

Walmart is reportedly eliminating hundreds of corporate jobs and ending most remote work.

That’s according to a report late Monday (May 13) by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing sources familiar with the matter.

One of the sources says that the retail giant — and America’s largest employer — is asking staff at small offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto to relocate to central hubs such Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., as well as Hoboken, N.J., or Northern California.

Walmart will still permit staff to work from home some of the time, provided that most of the time is spent at the office.

PYMNTS has contacted Walmart for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

The WSJ notes that Walmart has spent the last year trying to cut costs as it focuses spending in other areas. 

For example, the retailer announced late last month it was closing down its health clinics after saying as recently as April 10 that it was opening 18 more centers this year just in Texas. Walmart had been planning to have as many as 75 clinics operating by the start of next year.

“This is a difficult decision, and like others, the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability that make the care business unsustainable for us at this time,” the company said in announcing the closures.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS on Monday examined the pressure that Walmart’s grocery business is facing from consumer-packaged goods (CPG) subscription services.

Scott Murray, PYMNTS Senior Vice President and Head of Analytics, discussed Walmart’s campaign to stand out amidst increased competition from eCommerce players, noting that instead of leaning into its own discount-refill subscription offerings, it is focusing on other convenience-oriented channels.

“I think Walmart tries to take advantage of the in-store-ness of themselves with, for instance, the same-day delivery,” Murray said. “That was part of their Walmart+ program — to get that grocery delivery [occasion]. … So, it’s clearly an important thing for them.”

Research from PYMNTS Intelligence finds that while Walmart is holding its own in the food part of groceries, it is losing share to Amazon in non-food categories. And consumers are turning to discount subscriptions as a way to control spending.

“Net-net prices are still up 25% relative to last year, and we know most people didn’t get paycheck increases to match, so people are clearly worse off,” Murray said.