Soo many OGs from Global Tech in Bentonville were let go. My LinkedIn feed is shocking.
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@15p Just because your leadership had advanced knowledge doesn’t mean that was the case for everyone. Organizations operate differently, and assuming your experience is universal ignores the realities others faced. It’s clear that some groups had little to no insight beforehand, and it’s misleading to suggest this was orchestrated the way you claim
@df You are delusional if you think this was random or if you believe leaders didn’t know in advance. My leadership 100% knew (and told us these conversations had been ongoing for months) in advance and I can tell that some of the people were cherry picked because it’s easier to let them go in a riff than to hold them accountable day-to-day.
Walmart is “eating the tariffs” as the guy who they elected suggested.
I have been behind the scenes for hiring and The H1B are like a bonded labor for the companies who work their a-s off without complaining. No outburst for any ill treatment and no health benefits no 401k and no pay for vacation so yes why won’t they hire
You get relocated and hired based on your expertise, only to be let go after a few years despite delivering your best work. Meanwhile, promotions driven by connections rather than merit persist as they have for years in "Global Tech." To be fair, it’s not everyone—but I’d estimate nearly 90%. And yes, the remarks about the structural changes that followed the arrival of leadership from Google and Amazon, adding layers of 'group directors,' are absolutely valid.
That's why I would never take their relocation package. It get's the company off the hook for severance and they cut you off at the next round of lay offs.
So they forced people to move to arkansas just to presumably let many of them go only a few months later. What a sh---y company.
@fm I was at Walmart Seattle (Bellevue) and laid off yesterday
No employees were laid off at Walmart Seattle. All the distinguished hires at levels 1 and 2, as well as all directors hired in the past two years, were not affected.
The only way for walmart to truly be walmart is to kick the amazon leadership at top level. we dont need them here. they can take their stupid work culture back to amazon
The arrival of Amazon's leadership at Walmart Tech has negatively affected the company's culture. The layoffs primarily targeted long-term employees and those who joined before this new leadership took over. This leadership brought in numerous Senior Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents, as well as a new position of Group Director above the existing Senior Directors to consolidate power. Many resources were transferred from Amazon to various director roles, yet none of these new hires have faced layoffs in recent years; instead, it has been the long-standing employees and those who were part of the company prior to this leadership's tenure who have been impacted.
Did any second list come? Or the layoffs are done?
This type of reorganization happens every 3-4 years at Walmart HO in it's different sectors. This time it was Global Tech. It's a stressful, nerve-wracking thing to go through. I no longer work there but when I did, this happened about 3 times during my tenure.
I know people like to say "there was no rhyme or reason to it" but there was in fact, reasons. Quite a few of the people I know who were laid off expected to be, they just didn't know when it was coming. They did not receive acceptable evals and things like their effort at work, being a team player and their attendance were causing issues.
The people most taken by surprise were probably senior managers and directors. Walmart always cuts the bloat where it gets top heavy during a reorganization. Having too many in one area convolutes the decision making process. They also frequently cut teams that seem to be a repetitive copy of other teams. Having 4 teams doing the same job -differently- is not necessary.
They also are switching to different products. Workplace, for example, won't be used anymore - so letting go of that entire team was just an unfortunate byproduct of that. Furthermore, the advancements in AI have unfortunately made some teams responsibilities irrelevant. Tech is ever changing. I implore those left to pursue learning and upscaling in AI so you can use it to help you in your workplace. Not for it to take your job, but so you can have job security. AI is here to stay and it will always need humans who know how to vet it out and use it.
Lastly I want to say: stay kind to one another and don't let the political noise around you change your character. Getting laid off does not mean your career at Walmart or anywhere else is over. I hope the people who are affected by this are able to quickly find another job or perhaps use this as a chance to change careers or pursue a dream.
For the record, IDC was impacted.
I swear to god I get so sick of working with racist motherf----rs. You’d rather blame the person next to you who doesn’t look like you rather than blame the people with paychecks as long as your arm, who by the way, are the ones making these decisions. I’m as white and arkansan as the next hog fan.
""We are reshaping some teams in our Global Tech and Walmart U.S. organizations where we have identified opportunities to remove layers and complexity" - This is a lie; the layoffs were done randomly - directors had no idea and people that played critical roles in more than one way were let go
Walmart needs to stop H1B rampant hiring. It is not a matter of race, they are getting cheap subservient labor instead of Americans.
Walmart needs to hire Americans, especially minorities and HBCU grads over these Indians who sit around all day doing very little work.
Like others I am fed up with this H1B bs and as someone who has hired several associates, I also filter out anyone who needs sponsorship. Put Americans first.
Where did the layoff happen ?! I’m in Allentown PA
In my team they took 3 people , will there be more tomorrow also from same team ..
Regarding morale, it's certainly not going to improve it. As others have said, the layoffs/terminations/displacements are eclectic. You have folks that silent quit some time ago, poor performers, high performers, new, and long term associates being let go. There's even a chance folks that were displaced in Feb. were still trying to find placement, maybe even just starting a new area only to get cut again (this would cancel their ability to receive severance from the Feb. displayment). Certainly folks that were forced to relocate the HQ offices to retain their positions were let go today, many let go were also remote workers. Odd that InfoSec was hit that hard with 10%-15% cut, as they've generally been seen as a "safe" area in WMTech, as they've seen growth while other areas were cutting. I don't see this as a mismanagement issue in WMTech, that's not to say that there isn't a persistent issue with VP level leaders (usually external hires) continously disrupting everything on a whim, then feigning shock when no meaningful levels of efficiency can be obtained. Most Managers- Senior Directors are doing no better than the IC's (Individual Contributors) reporting to them. Like others said below they are being hit to, often after they have had "the late night scheduled 15 min meeting that you find on your calander first thing in the morning" with members of their teams, then they too get their very own meeting scheduled. But hey a few years ago they took an entire organization split them into 2 meetings in separate rooms told one room, there's no place for you in the organization going forward, and once they were done told the second room they had a place in the new org. Morale will never be better than it was decades ago.
I wonder how this is going to affect the overall morale if it has primarily been global tech? (Is that a division or something?)
Will there be layoffs tomorrow again ?
Thankfully I am not affected by this, but am I the only one tired of off shoring American jobs to IDC? We have plenty of qualified people here - tbh we have people MORE qualified here.
If we have layoffs in the US but not in IDC it will be pretty clear of the intentions of the current Global Tech leadership.
For global tech this is not a surprise. Suresh has been off shoring and a lot other positions will probably go that way.
Welcome to the club folks and good luck...
Can we please keep this thread specific to layoffs?
https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/walmart-layoffs-reorganization-2abd46eb
I guess, Count is more than 4000 layoffs,
Re: tomorrow and IDC, I've heard that the second list for tomorrow is for IDC only. I have no sources or any way of verifying this, but that's true for most of this thread.
Can you expect this happen tomorrow also or is it just today?
Latest number ~1500
to the post of "Where is anyone hating on H1B folks?"
I think the comment that got downvoted was coded with a bit of racism, and that's why it was downvoted. My assumption is people took that as OP begging the question of if the layoffs are only impacting non-Indians (this is only how I'm interpreting it).
As to your question, it's not a taboo topic. Ive heard today of associates (who happen to be Indian) who were also impacted. ive also heard from others that the idc is/will be impacted too but not sure of the validity of that
Not sure about the rest of ISD, but....from infosec, looking like 6-10% layoff. No single demo group appears to have been targeted (aka some junior roles, some sr directors, some in-between .... some dev, some ops, some pm .... some recent hires, some tenured .... some remote, some local). In some cases, the people weren't surprised - they knew their ratings, their level of performance. In a couple of cases, entire teams got let go due to consolidation of redundant business functions (5-7 people per team). Some other cases, not sure.... they were surprising to hear. Regardless of 'why', I hope everyone affected, directly or indirectly, has friends and family to console and lean on.
Where is anyone hating on H1B folks? Folks in this thread are talking about the layoffs occurring today, and the only comment that looks to broach that topic, was if anyone had observed any Indian folks impacted by the last few layoffs. This is a completely legitimate question if you know that Walmart has significant tech investments overseas. But for some "strange" reason that comment/question incurred massive downvotes currently 110 reactions (+43/-67). Personally, knowing Indian folks in the Tech area indeed have been laid off in this and previous layoffs, whether they were H1B or not isn't relevant. One might ask: are layoffs occurring in Bangalore or Chenai as well, would that equate to hating on H1B's? Does that warrant massive downvotes? Why is it a taboo topic?
Stop hating h1b people folks - No new H1B hires in Sunnyvale since 2024. The main issue isn't H1B, but outsourcing. It's US companies outsourcing for cheaper labor that's impacting jobs, not the visa holders. Misjudgments often stem from misconceptions.SMH
All I got to know is that there is a second list tomorrow. Not here to create panic, but please be aware and make plans. At least you’ve got a day’s lead time. The message is not official in any way, came through the grape vine after I got laid off
Are they done? Will there be more this week?
Got laid off at 10:00 this morning. Had a 3 min call with a Director I haven’t even heard about or seen him. The meeting was not cold albeit impersonal, he was very courteous, and his message clear and concise. I thanked him for his time, and I took it in as any sane person should. After 16 years of being a professional S/W Engineer one thing I learnt is be courteous to anyone and everyone, no matter the situation.
My sympathies to all those who lost their jobs, dreams and everything else in this massacre. Just remember, we will live and do greater things in life. Cheers.
Two folks I know that were laid off today were rated as opportunity they were not surprised and one said she mentally has been checked out for months not even wanting to improve. She will try something else besides corporate