Walmart corporate layoffs add to signs of slowing job market
Walmart, one of the country’s biggest employers, is conducting corporate layoffs and restructuring, in another sign pointing to a slowdown in the job market and the American economy.
Walmart described the move as an effort to reorganize itself. In a statement, spokesman Jimmy Carter said the company is “updating our structure and evolving select roles to provide clarity and better position the company for a strong future.”
It will invest more in e-commerce, technology, health and wellness, supply chain and advertising sales, the statement said, while also creating new roles in services for customers and suppliers.
A person familiar with the layoffs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to speak on the matter, said about 200 corporate jobs will be cut. Walmart employs about 1.6 million people in the United States.
Its announcement comes as the U.S. job market is cooling. Companies are reducing the pace of new hires, and consumers are spending less on nonessential goods amid rising fuel and food costs.
Walmart cut its quarterly and full-year profit outlook last week, spooking investors and sending its stocks into an 8 percent tumble at one point.
“The signal this sends is not a good one,” said Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData, a London-based data company.
Although the labor market has remained robust in recent months, decisions by retailers such as Walmart to cut jobs to save on costs “could further sour the economy and consumer confidence with it,” he added
This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the number of job openings — while still strong — had fallen from more than 11.3 million in May to 10.7 million at the end of June.
The largest drop occurred in retail, with 343,000 job openings disappearing, it said. The figure is the lowest since November.