The sign for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters in Bentonville is shown in this file photo.
Photo by Bob Coleman
SPRINGDALE — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said today it will eliminate 300 jobs in Northwest Arkansas in corporate support areas of its business.
In a memo to employees, Mike Duke, president and chief executive officer, said the move came after he directed company executives to find ways to reduce costs and eliminate duplication in the company’s operations.
“This was a difficult decision, but I believe that if we ask our operations to be leaner and more customer-focused, we must ask the same of our support teams at the Home Office,” Duke said in the memo.
The layoffs come less than a week after Wal-Mart announced several organizational changes throughout the company.
And on Jan. 24, the company’s wholesale-club division, Sam’s Club, said it was laying off about 10,000 part-time employees who operated in-store product sampling and demonstrations and 1,200 new-membership representatives. The company shifted the product demonstration work to Shopper Events, a Rogers-based company that does similar work at Wal-Mart supercenters and stores.
In November, Wal-Mart eliminated 60 positions in its international division at company headquarters, but also said it was adding 40 new positions to the division.
In February 2009, Wal-Mart shed 700 to 800 people at its headquarters, citing “unprecedented times” in the business. The move was spurred, in part, by a slowdown in store expansion.
Other retailers also have been trimming staffs during the recession.
Wal-Mart will release its fourth-quarter and fiscal year earnings on Feb. 18.
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