Dive Brief:
- Walmart plans to close three of its technology hubs, according to a Monday report by The Wall Street Journal. Suresh Kumar, EVP and global CTO at Walmart, announced in an internal staff memo that the company’s technology division, Walmart Global Tech, will shutter offices in three cities: Austin, Texas; Carlsbad, California; and Portland, Oregon.
- The memo also revised the retail giant’s remote work policy. Moving forward, global technology workers will be required to post up at their assigned offices at least two days per week.
- “We’ve made the decision to focus our tech team’s presence within select locations,” a company spokesperson told CIO Dive via email. “We hope to relocate or allow for remote work for all affected associates.”
Dive Insight:
Amazon, Walmart’s largest competitor, started the year by laying off more than 18,000 workers, primarily in its retail business.
Walmart has thus far avoided eliminating jobs and is hoping to retain associates impacted by closures. Staff at the sites mentioned in the memo will be reassigned, with the company covering moving costs, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Like Amazon, Walmart is more than just a retail business. The company, which ranked at the top of the Fortune 500 for the tenth consecutive year in 2022, has a significant technology footprint to go along with its more than 10,500 stores and clubs.
The company has leaned on AI for supply chain resilience, and deployed augmented reality and automation tools to support inventory management in 2021.
Its tech workforce has been growing as well.
Last year, Walmart Global Tech added 5,000 associates, bringing its workforce to 20,000, according to a March blog post by Kumar. The company also opened hubs in Toronto and Atlanta.
Excluding the three sites targeted for closure this year, the company continues to operate tech shops in eight U.S. cities, including Bentonville, Arkansas, Dallas and Seattle.
