Walmart To Shutter 3 Tech Centers, Shuffle Workers To Different Places
Retail giant Walmart is closing three of its tech hub offices, and it will require workers in those places to relocate if they want to keep their jobs, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a company memo.
The tech hubs that will close are in Austin, Texas; Carlsbad, California; and Portland, Oregon. If they relocate, their workers will go to San Bruno, California, or Bentonville, Arkansas. The company didn't specify the number of workers involved, though the WSJ put it at “hundreds.”
The amount of office space that Walmart will vacate is also unclear.
After the closures, the retailer will still have 14 other tech hubs, mostly in the United States, but also in Mexico, India and Costa Rica.
Walmart is offering to pay for the relocations or, in the case of those who do not want to move, severance pay. As yet, there is no timetable for the relocations.
Also, going forward, Walmart tech workers will be required to come into the office at least two days a week.
Walmart is only the latest major company to downsize its tech footprint. Early in February, tech giant and Google parent company Alphabet said it will incur about $500M in expenses in the first quarter associated with leaving office space it occupies.
