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Walmart lays off 450 at headquarters

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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart laid off 450 headquarters staff members on Friday. The move, which confirmed months of rumors about job cuts, is meant to help speed decision-making at the giant retailer.

Walmart laid off 450 headquarters staff members on Friday. The move, which confirmed months of rumors about job cuts, is meant to help speed decision-making at the giant retailer.

"We need to become a more agile company that can easily adapt to shifting customer demand," Walmart chief executive officer Doug McMillon wrote in a memo to company employees.

McMillon described the layoffs as part of a reorganization and review that will see the company pulling back on its investments in some areas of the business and expanding in others.

The layoffs, the largest at Walmart’s headquarters since 2009, come less than two months after the company reported second quarter earnings that fell short of analysts’ expectations, and lowered its guidance for the year.

Walmart, which employs about 18,000 at its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, is not alone in trimming its workforce. Target Corp. laid off about 1,700 headquarters employees this year, and Whole Foods Market Inc. recently announced plans to cut about 1,500 jobs.

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