Another giant joins the layoffs! Walmart announces 200 layoffs

Walmart has announced plans to lay off some employees after lowering its profit forecast last week. According to people familiar with the matter, Walmart has begun laying off some employees and is expected to lay off 200 people. The company has about 2.3 million employees worldwide, of which about 1.6 million are in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart's job cuts involve merchandising, global technology and real estate, and that Walmart is "investing in key areas," including e-commerce, technology, health and wellness, supply chain and advertising.

In recent weeks, there have been more and more news of layoffs from retail giants. Amazon and Shopify have announced layoffs, while Target and Best Buy have also lowered their profit forecasts and slowed down recruitment.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said the retail industry is cutting costs by downsizing operations, partly because inflation has made it difficult to raise prices. He also pointed out that labor is one of the largest expense items for companies, most of which is concentrated in central functions and headquarters, and all levels are increasingly cautious about hiring new employees.

Walmart's layoffs reported on Wednesday were lower than most retail companies have planned so far. Amazon laid off 100,000 employees and Shopify also announced layoffs of 10% of its global employees, both of which are the largest layoffs in history.

Walmart's new focus on areas such as e-commerce, health and wellness, and technology follows a similar path to Amazon, which derives most of its revenue and profits from subscriptions, cloud services, logistics and advertising rather than retail.

Still, Walmart's moves portend bad news for the broader economy. As more retailers and other businesses feel the effects of a slowing economy, their decisions to cut jobs could further sour economic and consumer confidence.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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