Walmart cutting 450 jobs at headquarters

The cuts would, however, account for a small fraction of the more than 18,000 current jobs at the Arkansas-based office.

In addition to investing $1.5 billion on wage hikes for half a million store workers, the retailer is also spending billions on its e-commerce firepower.

Walmart laid off 450 employees at its headquarters on Friday.

Labor costs, increased by Wal-Mart hiking its minimum wage to $9 in April, have weighed on earnings, which missed analysts’ estimates last quarter.

Laid-off employees will receive 60 days of pay, plus two weeks of pay for every year of employment with the company, said a Wal-Mart spokesman. Plus the strength of the US dollar is pinching its results.

Greg Hitt, vice president of corporate communications for Wal-Mart, said the cuts were made after several months of evaluation and said it was a “fair and consistent process throughout”. It’s trying to improve pricing and selection as well as beefing up customer service.

“We have the locations already in place, and with our website and mobile app expertise, we’re able to combine those things in a way that helps our customers save time and still take advantage of our everyday low prices”. “We need to become a more agile company that can easily adapt to shifting customer demand”.

Even with the economy in recovery mode, retailers are getting leaner and more agile with competition only growing fiercer.

The layoffs are part of restructuring in the Home Office, according to a Walmart press release. The company is at “an important time in our history”, he said.

And there are constant reminders that the global economy is still struggling, and that has not gone unfelt in the U.S.

The paper claims under 500 employees are expected to lose their jobs as part of the group’s ongoing cost-cutting programme, which aims to boost profits.