Walmart Inc. is axing hundreds of corporate jobs and asking most remote workers to return to offices, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Employees in smaller offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto are being asked to switch to bigger hubs including the retail giant's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Staff will still be allowed to do their jobs remotely and part-time as long as they're in offices the majority of the time, said the person, who was unauthorised to speak publicly on the matter.
A Walmart spokesperson said the company didn't have an update to share at this time.
Companies around the world are encouraging employees, whose commutes were reshaped by the pandemic, to return to offices. Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, is also the largest private employer in the US and operates some 4,600 stores domestically.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the staffing changes.
The job cuts at Walmart also underscores the retail giant's efforts to cut costs as discretionary spending in the United States remains strained.
Spending among Americans remained weak compared to 2021, at least for non-essential, discretionary merchandise like clothing, according to surveys by Deloitte.
Late last month, Walmart said it would close all 51 of its health clinics and shut its virtual health care operations, saying it could not see it as a sustainable business model.
The company also said last year it expects about 65 per cent of its stores to be serviced by automation by the end of its fiscal year 2026.
The retailer is set to report first-quarter results on Thursday.
