Wal-Mart cuts 300 jobs in latest reorganization

[TwixVoy]

Source: AP

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is cutting 300 administrative jobs at its headquarters as it completes a yearlong series of changes to improve performance. The company has cut almost 14,000 jobs in the past 13 months.

Wal-Mart President and CEO Mike Duke told employees about the latest layoffs in a memo on Wednesday.

"With this last major strategic piece in place, we are beginning our new fiscal year with every part of our business focused on being even more responsive to our customers," Duke wrote. He said the world's largest retailer trimmed its labor force to advance its strategy of improving its "growth, leverage and returns."

The 300 being laid off this month include workers in corporate affairs, finance, human resources, information systems and legal departments, Wal-Mart spokesman Dave Tovar said.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/WalMart-laying-off-300-apf-3641565568.html?x=0&.v=8

[marmar]

1. Because apparently, no profit is big enough for Apall-Mart

nt

[AndyA]

2. Keep shopping at Walmart, folks.

Pull into the parking lot in your FOREIGN car.

Go inside and spend your money on a bunch of cheap FOREIGN crap.

Tell yourself you can't afford to shop elsewhere, and don't bother to think about the heavy handed tactics Walmart uses with suppliers to get those prices down.

Ignore the fact that Walmart is one of China's biggest customers, which is good for China but bad for America.

Forget about Walmart's horrible record of abusing employees, making sure they can't afford and aren't eligible for health care because they aren't full time.

Don't consider how you might be shopping yourself out of a job. Literally.

Walmart loves you. Really. It does. :eyes:

[rfranklin]

3. You are right...Walmart is un-American...

and should be treated as such by our government.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Righteous!

Tell it, brother!

[jmowreader]

10. I'm trying to figure out where else there is to go

We'll use Fayettenam for an example. There are four places to buy groceries.

One is Walmart. We've got five of them in the area--three in FAY, one in Spring Lake, one in Hope Mills.
One is Food Lion, which is owned by a foreign-owned conglomerate called Delhaize. They're in eight different countries, and own six different food chains in the US alone.
Carlie C's IGA is part of the Independent Grocers Alliance, but Carlie C owns IIRC 15 stores and is growing.
Compare Foods owns 14 stores in four states. We have one of them here.

There's no such thing as a mom & pop grocer in this town. There are very few mom & pop ANYTHING here. There's one independent druggist and the only way he stays in business is through compounding. And the few M&P stores around are just as shitty to their people as Walmart is. (The compounding pharmacy is fucked when the owner dies--he employs no one. Seriously. It's the husband mixing drugs and his wife doing the paperwork.)

Come to think of it, very very few places have independently owned groceries anymore. Or independent anything else.

Thank you Mr. Reagan. We're all fucked.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. In the '60s, there were about 6 grocery stores in my home town

of about 8,000 population. Only one-- Piggly Wiggly-- was a national chain store, with the others (including one IGA) being locally owned.

Today, there are two locally (employee)-owned supermarkets (IGA is long gone), a national sack-your-own chain, a few Mexican markets, one tiny Oriental market, and Wal-Mart, in a town that now has a population of more than 50,000. The Wal-Mart is busy, the two locally-owned stores are comparatively empty.

[CatholicEdHead]

4. Just before the holidays the hours were bad for employees

at the Wally World nearest me that I heard through the grapevine. Retail is slowing down, so it is not effecting the next level up at corporate (but not the Walton kids yet). They are cutting workers even though they spend so much money on store remodels. I think they are only in year 3 of a 5 year store remodel plan.

Edit: IT is going down as they outsource to HP Enterprise Services(formerly EDS), so they are taking over much of the in-house IT.

[Arctic Dave]

5. Blaming the job cut on the customer? WTF!

No, the customer didn't do it, the greedy assholes in the boardroom did it.

[Socal31]

12. Both are involved.

People would rather go save $.30 on deodorant instead of supporting companies that actually help this country. Saying something bad about Walmart in some circles makes you "elitist."

[liberal N proud]

6. That is not all the people being laid off at Wal-Mart

There is more to come.

A position that is management level between store management and regional management has been eliminated company wide. The people in those positions have been given 90 days to find new positions in the company or they are out.

This one may never be reported as layoff though because of how they are doing it.


I think the era of Wal-Mart has reached its peak as do all giants it too will fall.

[Rapier09]

7. I feel bad for those who work in retail

American consumers are going to take years to get back to their "pre-recession" level of spending.

A shame the service sector is going to get hit this hard but frankly it should never have managed to grab such a slice of our GDP.

[OhioChick]

8. Sending more "information systems" over to India. n/t