Walmart cutting corporate jobs

Walmart Inc. is reducing the size of its corporate workforce.

The retail giant — and nation’s largest private employer — has begun to lay off employees at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., and other corporate offices as part of a “restructuring effort,” reported The Wall Street Journal. The layoffs cut across a wide variety of departments, including merchandising, global technology and real-estate teams, with about 200 jobs in total being eliminated the report said.

The move comes approximately a week after Walmart reduced its profit outlook and warned that consumers were reining in spending in certain categories amid inflation. The retailer said it would have to offer more discounts to clear apparel and general merchandise.

“Increasing levels of food and fuel inflation are affecting how customers spend,” Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Walmart Inc., said in a business update last week.

A Walmart spokesperson told CNBC that the company was hiring in such growing parts of its business as supply chain, e-commerce, health and wellness, and advertising sales.

“Shoppers are changing. Customers are changing,” the spokesperson said. “We are doing some restructuring to make sure we’re aligned.”