Walmart eliminates about 1,500 jobs on its technology team

Walmart is cutting corporate staff in the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and other offices, people familiar with the matter said, as the world's biggest retailer looks to trim costs and contends with economic volatility. 

The company is eliminating some jobs on its global technology team, according to people with knowledge of the layoffs who weren't authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Less than 1,500 employees are affected, one of the people said.

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Changes are aimed at accelerating decision-making and reducing complexities, chief technology officer Suresh Kumar and Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner wrote in a memo. In addition to eliminating some roles, Walmart is creating new positions, they said. 

The company is simplifying the tech team's structure to move faster and adapt more effectively, according to the memo, and Walmart U.S. staffing changes are aimed at creating more efficiency. 

"Today, store fulfillment is a complicated process with multiple points of contact. This creates friction," Cedric Clark, executive vice president of store operations at Walmart U.S., said in a separate memo, adding that removing friction around digital orders will help customers. Walmart is making changes to some roles running these orders.

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The company is also changing the structure of the advertising business, Kumar and Furner said. 

A Walmart spokeswoman said the changes reflect the company's growth strategies and are not related to tariffs, declining to comment further. The shares were little changed in late trading in New York. The stock has risen 6.7% this year through Wednesday's close, outperforming the S&P 500 Index. 

The downsizing follows a reorganization in February, when Walmart cut some jobs and asked employees to move to central offices in Arkansas and California. The company has about 1.6 million U.S. employees, making it the largest private employer in the country. 

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Walmart has performed better than its competitors in recent quarters, but warned that prices are poised to rise due to higher tariffs. Those remarks drew the ire of President Donald Trump over the weekend.