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Walmart to cut hundreds of jobs at e-commerce facilities By Investing.com

Walmart to cut hundreds of jobs at e-commerce facilities

© Reuters. Walmart (WMT) to cut hundreds of jobs at e-commerce facilities

By Michael Elkins

An exclusive story by Reuters on Thursday reports that hundreds of workers at five U.S. Walmart (NYSE:) facilities that fulfill e-commerce orders are being asked to find jobs within 90 days at other company locations.

A spokesman confirmed that 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 declined to call them mass layoffs and said that the warehouses continued to operate normally.

“We recently adjusted staffing levels to better prepare for the future needs of customers,” Walmart said in a statement, adding that it would work closely with affected associates to find jobs at other locations.

Walmart has been investing heavily in automation over the past few years, partnering with automation companies such as Knapp to help it cut down the number of steps it takes employees to process e-commerce orders.

On a post-earnings call in February, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said he was “most excited about the automation opportunity we have” with plans to increase investments in automation technology as part of its more than $15-billion capital expenditure budget this year.

“You will begin to see the significant benefits from the investments that we’re making in things like our supply chain automation and our expanded e-commerce capabilities,” Walmart CFO John Rainey said during the call. “The macro pressures this year may obscure some of that progress but won’t take away from the long-term promise of many of these initiatives.”

The news comes months after the company let laid off nearly 1,500 workers at an Atlanta, Georgia, online order fulfillment center, as part of a modernization plan to build warehouses with a more high-tech spin. However, the spokesperson said the new round of layoffs was unrelated to its modernization plans.

Shares of WMT are up 0.93% in mid-day trading on Thursday.

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