Five US Walmart facilities that cater to e-commerce orders are now downsizing their workforce and laying off hundreds of employees by asking them to find their next job within 90 days at the company’s other locations, reported Reuters quoting a spokesperson.
Many companies recently laid off their employees for various reasons such as budget cuts, reorganization, mergers and acquisitions, shifts in business strategy, or declining profits.
As per the representative, a decrease in evening and weekend shifts resulted in the layoff of about 200 employees in Pedricktown, New Jersey as well as hundreds more in Fort Worth, Texas; Chino, California; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Davenport, Florida.
Layoffs can be a challenging experience for the affected employees because of the uncertainty and financial hardships. However, they are becoming more common as companies try to remain competitive and profitable in a rapidly changing industry.
The spokesperson also said that individuals who are laid off will be eligible for 90 days’ pay till they find a new job at other locations including Joliet, Lancaster, Texas and Illinois where the firm opened up new e-commerce distribution centres.
The five fulfilment centres’ employees who are laid off will be qualified for positions at Walmart’s 5,000 US shops, which the corporation has been using as a platform to deliver goods to consumers’ doorsteps. With nearly 1.7 million US employees, Walmart is the largest private employer in the country.
During the past several years, Walmart has made significant investments in automation working with businesses like Knapp. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon expressed his excitement about the automation possibility on a post-earnings call in February. Walmart has plans to raise investments in automation technologies as part of its more than $15 billion capital expenditure budget this year.
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According to a Reuters analysis of labour department records, Walmart did not issue a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice for the layoffs other than in Pedricktown, New Jersey. It is pertinent to note that US labour law requires employers with 100 or more employees to give 60 days’ notice in advance of plant closures and mass layoffs.
The spokeswoman stated that Walmart did not send out a WARN letter for the other locations because it does not know how many workers will ultimately be let go and rehired. The Walmart representative also refrained from using the term “mass layoff” and said that business as usual continued at the warehouses.
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