BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be cutting about 7,000 office jobs from U.S. stores over the next several months as part of a restructuring effort.
The eliminated positions will be store accounting and invoicing positions, which monitor daily cash flow and manufacturer claims for individual stores, reported the Wall Street Journal. These will be replaced by a centralized office and automated machines that can count money in stores.
Wal-Mart tested the restructuring plan in about 500 stores earlier this year.
The restructuring comes from Wal-Mart’s attempts to compete with online retailers like Amazon.com.
Wal-Mart spokespeople said several employees will be transitioned to different jobs within the company, as the retailing giant shifts its emphasis to working with customers instead of behind the scenes. The new positions could include working with the relatively new curbside pick-up service.
However, the eliminated jobs are for some of the highest-paid hourly workers in the company, so the new positions could come with a cut in pay.
The restructuring will begin over the next several months.
