Walmart said it will close three regional technology hubs in the U.S., including one in Austin, and require hundreds of workers to relocate or be laid off.
Walmart is also calling for all of its tech workers to work in the office at least two days a week, according to a company memo acquired by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The closing hubs are located in Austin, Texas, Carlsbad, California, and Portland, Oregon, according to the memo from Walmart’s global chief technology officer, Suresh Kumar.
The company said it will pay for workers at these locations to transfer to primary offices, like the one in San Bruno, California, or the headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
A spokeswoman told the WSJ that Walmart wants to relocate most of the workers from the closing hubs. Employees that do not relocate will receive severance, the spokeswoman said.
“We’ve made the decision to focus our tech team’s presence within select locations,” she said, according to the WSJ.
While Walmart has not announced any tech layoffs like many of its competitors this year, its latest announcement indicates the company is getting leaner and shifting away from remote work.
The company said the majority of its global tech workforce will work in their assigned office two days a week, according to the WSJ.
Most of the employees at the retail giant’s headquarters in Bentonville have already been required to work in-person five days a week since last year, per the WSJ.
Other tech companies have also been pushing for a move back to the office. On Monday, video game publisher Activision Blizzard announced that employees must be in the office three days a week starting in April.
Disney recently announced it will require workers to come into the office four days a week starting in March.
Last month, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said employees within commuting distance would be required to return to the office at least three days a week, according to Business Insider.
Previously, Walmart CTO Kumar told the company’s tech workers that “remote work would stick around longer than in other parts of the organization,” according to the WSJ.
A report released by recruiting service Zippia in October 2022 suggested that 26% of U.S. employees worked remotely, with 16% of companies operating fully remotely. The report also concluded that 68% of Americans would prefer to work remotely full-time.
