Walmart Is Laying Off or Relocating 1,000 Corporate Workers to Streamline Its AI Teams

Roughly 1,000 corporate employees are being cut or relocated as the company reorganizes how its technology and artificial intelligence teams are structured. The move follows a broader internal review led by two of its top technology executives, and it marks another step in the retailer’s ongoing push to build its digital operations around a single, unified platform.

The changes come under CEO John Furner and a reshuffled leadership team as the retailer works to better compete with rivals, including Amazon, Costco, and Aldi. Walmart reached a $1 trillion market valuation in February, a milestone that reflects both its scale and the pressure it faces to keep growing efficiently as the retail industry grows more technology-driven.

Many of the affected employees have been offered the option to apply for other open roles within the company, according to Reuters. The changes are part of a broader push to consolidate Walmart’s technology operations under a single, unified platform that the company has been building over the past year.

The Reorganization Is About Structure, Not Replacing Workers With AI

The changes were laid out in a memo sent to staff and viewed by the Wall Street Journal, authored by the head of global technology, Suresh Kumar, and the head of global AI acceleration, Daniel Danker. The two leaders said that in some cases the company had “different teams working on similar problems,” and that consolidating those efforts would clarify who is responsible for what and align positions with the capabilities the company is prioritizing.

Danker, who joined Walmart from Instacart in a newly created role, has been working alongside Kumar to review the company’s internal technology structure. Both leaders determined that streamlining certain teams would better position the company as it continues expanding its AI-related work across its various business units.

The company clarified through a spokesperson that the restructuring is about organizational alignment, not a shift toward replacing human work with artificial intelligence. The clarification comes as many companies across industries have recently cited AI investment as a reason for reducing headcount. Walmart described the changes as consolidation-focused rather than automation-driven.

Walmart Has Been Building Toward This Consolidation for Over a Year

Over the past year, the company moved away from running separate technology operations for Walmart U.S., Sam’s Club, and its international markets. Instead, it has been building one shared platform to serve all of its units. The current reorganization is partly a consequence of that shift, as roles created for the old structure no longer align with how the company now operates.

Earlier this year, about 100 workers at its Hoboken, New Jersey, offices were laid off, a move the company disclosed through a state-required layoff notice. In the current round, many affected staff have been asked to relocate to Bentonville, Arkansas, or to Walmart’s Northern California offices. Walmart employs approximately 2.1 million people worldwide, with around 1.6 million in the United States.

Walmart has periodically reduced its corporate headcount in recent years, often alongside moves to centralize operations and bring teams under shared hubs. The company has also been investing in automation and advertising as it looks to grow profit from sources beyond merchandise sales, an effort that Furner and other executives outlined during Walmart’s earnings presentation earlier this year.

What Comes Next for Walmart’s Technology Strategy

Walmart is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on May 21, which will offer a clearer picture of how its finances are holding up through these structural changes. CEO John Furner said during the company’s earnings presentation that Walmart expects future growth to cost less, proportionally, than it has in previous years, a goal the unified technology platform is meant to support.

Revenue streams beyond merchandise, including digital advertising and marketplace services, have been a growing focus, with technology infrastructure playing a central role in both. The unified platform is intended to support that work going forward, as Walmart continues expanding its AI and technology operations across its business units.

Affected employees face decisions in the coming weeks about relocation and whether open internal roles are a match. The reorganization itself is part of a broader technology shift the company has been working toward, and with earnings due May 21, the results will offer the first financial snapshot of where Walmart stands as those changes take hold.