This time, as part of the restructuring exercise, the lay-offs are reportedly going to affect the stores’ large human resources department.
In another move to restructure its existing capabilities, Wal-Mart Stores reportedly plans to cut hundreds of jobs before the end of January.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer apparently plans to eliminate jobs at its headquarters and lay off regional personnel that support stores.
Interestingly, this time the job cuts are reportedly going to affect Walmart’s human resources department, a large team that some senior executives believe should be more efficient or whose duties can be handled by outside consultants.
While other departments will be impacted as well, the decision is expected to affect the HR team the most. Even earlier, in September 2016, the company said it would cut about 7000 back-office jobs, mostly in accounting and invoicing positions at its US stores, as part of a programme it had announced in June.
The job cuts follow the company’s plans to invest $2.7 billion in programmes involving training of its workforce, and a series of wage hikes that took the minimum hourly pay for store workers to $10. This is also a part of efforts to improve service at stores and boost sales.
On the other hand, the company has also been investing to increase e-commerce sales and improve its stores. Helping the company report strong online sales growth and a smaller-than-expected decline in earnings for the third quarter, these measures have proven to be useful for business growth, despite comparable store sales coming in below estimates.
