Wal-Mart Reportedly Cutting 1,000 Corporate Jobs
Wal-Mart is planning to cut over 1,000 corporate jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday citing sources. The layoffs, expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2019, will focus largely on employees in its corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., the report said. Wal-Mart, the country's largest private employer, has 1.5 million workers in the U.S. and 2.3 million around the world.
Total Retail's Take: It's been a busy few days for Wal-Mart. Last week, the retail giant announced that it was raising the starting wage for its store associates and giving bonuses as well. In addition, Wal-Mart announced it was expanding maternity and paternity leave benefits to all full-time hourly employees. However, the good news seems to have ended there. On the same day that it announced the wage increase and benefits expansion, Wal-Mart also announced that it would be closing 63 of its Sam's Club stores. And now the latest news to leak is that the company will be laying off up to 1,000 corporate employees.
In a session yesterday at the National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York City, where he was being honored with the trade group's "Visionary" award, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon detailed the investments the company is making in its employees, particularly store associates, as it seeks to evolve and better serve today's digital-savvy consumers through a combination of technology and people. However, hard decisions still have to be made, and job cuts are one of them.
