Wal-Mart, Home Depot Cutting Jobs

January 29, 2010 by Debbie Dragon

own the economy in the United States is slowly recovering. However, this has not automatically translated to people keeping their jobs, or finding new ones. Some of the largest retail chains in the country are continuing to lay off employees at a staggering rate.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced plans on cutting over 11,000 employees at its Sam’s Club locations, their largest job cut ever. The move will affect mostly part-time employees who attempt to entice customers to purchase store items, such as food and electronics, by performing in-store demonstrations. The number of employee cuts represents roughly 10 percent of Sam’s Club’s workforce.

Wal-Mart Stores plans on outsourcing its in-store demonstrations to Shopper Events, an outside marketing company based in Rogers, AR in hopes of improving Sam’s Club’s sales.

Wal-Mart Stores has already closed 10 Sam’s Club locations in the last month, which has resulted in roughly 1500 losing their jobs. There are approximately 600 Sam’s Club warehouse locations across the United States.

Sam’s Club saw it’s revenue drop $11.55 billion last quarter, which is almost a 1 percent sales decrease, while Wal-mart stores saw a $61.81 billion increase, or 1.2 percent.

Eligible employees who have been cut will receive severance pay and benefits, and will also receive assistance to find employment at other Sam’s Club locations and Wal-Mart stores. Some employees who will be laid off might possibly find employment with Shopper Events.

To boost sales and productivity, Home Depot also plans on eliminating jobs. The company is ending three pilot programs, which will result in 1,000 employees being laid off. Home Depot will be closing a temporary hurricane recovery outlet in Waveland, MS; a clearance outlet in Austell, GA; and a small-format store in Wilson, NC. Cuts also include the consolidation of support staff in the human resources and finance divisions. The company said they have no plans to close any of the full-size retail stores.

Despite the cuts, the restructuring will actually create about 200 jobs in Atlanta, which is where most human resources administration will be handled.

Home Depot is the largest home-improvement retailer, and currently has 300,000 employees and 1,500 store locations. Last year, Home Depot cut 7,000 jobs and closed specialty stores across the United States, and has marked the third consecutive January in which the large chain has laid off employees.


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