Wal-Mart Stores Laying off 11,200 Sam's Club Employees
Wal-Mart is laying off 11,200 Sam's Club employees. The world's largest retailer is now outsourcing its product demonstrations.
Bloomberg reports;
About 10,000 demonstration employees, most part-time, will lose their jobs when Shopper Events takes over sampling, Sam's Club Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell told employees today in a memo. The company also is cutting about 1,200 membership recruiting jobs, or about two in each of the club's U.S. stores.
Sam's Club is working with Shopper Events to develop in-store demonstrations, such as food sampling, currently performed by Sam's employees, Cornell said. The effort is aimed at improving demonstrations in the areas of food and beverages, personal wellness and electronics, according to the memo.
Shopper Events will now hire thousands of workers to do demonstrations and laid off employees are encouraged to apply for those jobs. In addition to these layoffs, Wal-Mart is also moving ahead with plans to close ten Sam's Club locations. 1500 people will lose their jobs as a result of those closures.
