Walmart is laying off 200 corporate employees, a person familiar with the matter confirmed on Wednesday, a week after the company cut its profit outlook, saying inflation is pushing customers to make fewer purchases.
In a statement, Ann Hatfield, a company spokeswoman, said Walmart is “updating our structure and evolving certain roles to provide clarity and better position the company for a strong future.” She added that the company is investing in other areas, including e-commerce and technology.
The corporate layoffs were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Walmart is the nation’s largest employer with nearly 1.6 million workers in the United States. The company spooked investors on July 25 when it cut its outlook for quarterly and full-year profit guidance.
In that announcement, Walmart said U.S. consumers are moving away from general merchandise purchases to focus on essentials like groceries. The company said it expects full-year operating profit to fall as much as 13 percent as the company has been forced to continue marking down inventory that isn’t selling.
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