Walmart to cut over 2,000 jobs in e-commerce warehouses

Walmart layoffs: Walmart will cut more than 2,000 jobs at five U.S. e-commerce warehouses, Bloomberg reported on Monday.  The layoffs include more than 1,000 roles at a warehouse in Fort Worth, Texas, along with 600 jobs at a Pennsylvania fulfilment centre, 400 in Florida and 200 in New Jersey, the report said citing regulatory filings, with additional reductions planned in California. 

Early in March Walmart asked hundreds of workers at five U.S. Walmart facilities that fulfil e-commerce orders asked to find jobs within 90 days at other company locations, a spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. About 200 workers at Pedricktown, New Jersey, and hundreds of others at Fort Worth, Texas; Chino, California; Davenport, Florida; and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania were let go due to a reduction or elimination in evening and weekend shifts, the spokesperson said.

The layoffs at Walmart, a retail bellwether because of its size, could be a harbinger of further turmoil in the U.S. economy, which many economists predict could enter recession this year.

The spokesperson said impacted workers would be paid for 90 days to find jobs at other facilities, including those in Joliet, Illinois, and Lancaster, Texas, where the company has opened up new high-tech e-commerce distribution centers.

Walmart has been investing heavily in automation over the past few years, partnering with companies such as Knapp to help it cut down the number of steps it takes employees to process e-commerce orders to five from 12, which has been implemented at its Pedricktown, New Jersey location, for instance.