Walmart Confirms Tech Job Cuts: 1,000 Roles Affected in Corporate Restructuring

Retail giant Walmart Inc. has confirmed plans to eliminate some corporate jobs as part of a broader restructuring initiative. The affected positions will not impact the company’s retail staff, which represents the vast majority of its 1.6 million-strong U.S. workforce.

What’s Happening at Walmart?

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart would lay off or relocate approximately 1,000 members of its corporate workforce. The company has since confirmed to Fast Company that it is eliminating certain roles, though it has not specified the exact number of positions affected.

A company spokesperson shared a memo sent to employees on Tuesday, May 12 by Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s global Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Chief Development Officer, and Daniel Danker, Executive Vice President of AI Acceleration, Product, and Design. The memo outlined plans to simplify Walmart’s digital operations by reducing organizational layers.

“That includes updating some roles to better match the work being done, bringing teams together where it makes sense, and aligning some roles to key locations where related work is already happening,” the memo stated.

As a result of these changes, Walmart will commence layoffs. The memo explained: “Some work has been consolidated, and some roles have been eliminated.” The company is also assisting affected employees in exploring internal opportunities where possible.

Relocation Options for Affected Employees

Fast Company reports that Walmart considers these changes “conversations,” meaning that while around 1,000 roles are impacted, not all will result in layoffs. Some employees may retain their jobs if they agree to relocate. The relocation options include Walmart’s offices in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Northern California.

AI Not a Factor in Walmart’s Job Cuts

Despite the restructuring affecting digital operations, artificial intelligence (AI) is not cited as the reason for the layoffs. Neither Kumar nor Danker mentioned AI in their memo, and The Wall Street Journal quoted a Walmart spokesperson confirming that the cuts are part of operational restructuring—not AI replacing human roles.

This distinguishes Walmart’s layoffs from recent tech industry cuts at companies like Cloudflare, Upwork, and Coinbase, all of which have attributed job reductions to AI adoption. These companies announced layoffs in early May, as previously reported by Fast Company.

Walmart’s Stock Price Remains Unaffected

Typically, job cuts boost a company’s stock price by reducing overhead costs. However, Walmart’s stock price has remained stable. The company’s shares closed up around 2% the day the layoffs were announced, which falls within the normal daily trading range. In premarket trading the following morning, Walmart’s stock (NYSE: WMT) was down slightly.