• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 14, 2024

Walmart, which releases quarterly results this week, keeps tightening expenses, eliminating “several hundred” corporate jobs. In moves first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the company is also asking many formerly remote corporate staff members to relocate.

“It has been a little over four years since we faced the global pandemic that reshaped our lives in many ways, including our ways of working,” writes Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, in a memo Walmart shared with MediaPost. “In February 2022, we made the decision to bring Home Office associates back into our campus offices. We believe that being together in person makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster. We also believe it helps strengthen our culture and grow and develop our associates.”

The company says it is asking most associates who are still working remotely and most of those based in their smaller offices in Dallas and Atlanta to relocate. Those working in the Global Tech office, based in Toronto, have also been asked to relocate.

While most moves will be to the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters, some people are being shifted to Walmart offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken, New Jersey.

She confirmed that business changes mean a reduction of “several hundred campus roles.”

The news comes within weeks of the retailer announcing other key shifts in strategy. For one thing, it shuttered its healthcare business, citing profitability as the main reason. That effort, begun in 2019, had grown to 51 Walmart healthcare centers in rural markets, and the company promised to double that operation.

The abrupt closure came as a surprise following its intense five-year investment. “Through our experience managing Walmart Health centers and Walmart Health Virtual Care, we determined there is not a sustainable business model for us to continue,” the retailer said in its announcement.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company also surprised observers with the launch of Bettergoods, a higher-end private-label line of foods.

While Walmart’s other private-label products build on the retailer’s “Everyday Low Prices” promise, Bettergoods is a little higher-end, delivering what Walmart calls “an elevated experience.”

The launch – Walmart’s biggest private-label food debut in more than 20 years – positions it better against food retailers like Kroger, Safeway and Target, which have long offered more tiers of private label. Walmart says it is also its fastest launch, enabling it to pounce on food trends quickly.

“Today’s customers expect more from the private brands they purchase – they want affordable, quality products to elevate their overall food experience,” says Scott Morris, senior vice president of private brands, food and consumables, in the company’s announcement.

The 300-item collection is priced from $2 to $15. It falls into three categories: Culinary experiences, like specialty salts, Hot Honey Seasoning, Creamy Corn Jalapeno Chowder or Bronze Cut Pasta from Italy, plant-based foods, and “Made Without,” catering to various lifestyles.