Wal-Mart reported to be making new round of job cuts
Wal-Mart Stores is making another round of job cuts as part of CEO Doug McMillon’s efforts to streamline operations, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The move will eliminate hundreds of positions this month, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the plan isn’t public. The Wall Street Journal said the cuts would fall particularly hard on the human resources department, which some executives feel should be outsourced.
Wal-Mart has been looking for ways to slim down its operations at a time of increasing e-commerce spending and rising wages for employees. In late 2015, Wal-Mart eliminated hundreds of headquarters positions, followed by a relocation of 7,000 back-office accounting positions that was announced in September. Wal-Mart employs 2.3 million people worldwide.
“We need to manage expenses even better, which includes changing how we do work inside the company,” McMillon told investors in October. “We have a lot of conversations these days about priorities.”
The Bentonville, Ark.based company is coming off a third quarter marked by disappointing sales growth, though e-commerce orders did show signs of picking up.