Walmart has announced plans to cut about 200 corporate jobs at its headquarters and other offices, according to a report Wednesday (Aug. 3) from The Wall Street Journal.
The paper confirmed that the retail giant is restructuring its merchandising, global technology and real estate teams to create “new roles” in more profitable areas after it lowered its sales and earnings forecasts for the third quarter and full year, citing rising inflation that’s forced consumers at all income levels to rethink spending.
Widespread markdowns haven’t gained much traction, Walmart noted when it announced the downgrade on July 25, leaving its stores with shelves full of merchandise they can’t clear.
The news makes the Bentonville, Arkansas, company the latest blue chip to take a drastic look at its payroll in the face of rising prices and other economic headwinds. Ford is about to cut thousands of white-collar jobs, and tech companies Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta are pulling back on hiring as businesses in every vertical tighten their belts, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, Massmart, a Walmart subsidiary in South Africa, is facing its own troubles, including issues with restrictions and lockdowns related to COVID-19 breakouts in that region, PYMNTS wrote recently.
See also: Walmart-Owned Massmart Can’t Overcome Pandemic, Inflation, Other Hurdles
Massmart CEO Mitchell Slape has been tasked since 2019 with turning things around for the company, which has struggled in the face of global problems like the pandemic and its resulting supply chain tie-ups, as well as local riots that killed numerous people in 2021 — all factors that have made South African consumers hesitant to shop in person unless it’s “absolutely necessary.”
Syd Vianello, an independent analyst, said consumers were facing a wide array of problems – a lack of decent wage increases, higher food and gas prices and more.
“With Massmart’s product mix, the higher margin discretionary spend items are affected more,” he said. “This is the problem the CEO faces. … It couldn’t have come at a worse time.”