Big U.S. companies taper or abandon diversity pledges
Some of the biggest companies in the U.S. from Walmart to Meta Platforms have rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, known as DEI.
Walmart is eliminating several jobs and closing its Charlotte, North Carolina office as it relocates employees to its main hubs in California and Arkansas, according to multiple reports citing an internal memo.
The multinational retail corporation is asking staffers based in Hoboken, New Jersey, and other smaller offices, to relocate to its newly opened headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas and its office in Sunnyvale, California, Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, wrote in a memo viewed by Bloomberg News and Reuters.
“We are making these changes to put key capabilities together, encouraging speed and shared understanding,” Morris wrote in the recent memo, per the outlets.
USA TODAY contacted Walmart on Wednesday but has not received a response.
Why is Walmart relocating?
This decision is a part of Walmart’s bigger relocation strategy that began last year, and it’s occurring when many U.S. corporations are mandating that employees return to the office three to five days a week.
With the closure of Walmart’s Charlotte office and the cutting of numerous corporate roles as part of this relocation process, hundreds of jobs are expected to be eliminated, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
In 2024, Walmart asked employees in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto to relocate to bigger hubs, most of which went to the main office in Bentonville. Changes in “some parts of our business … will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles,” Morris said in May in a separate memo to employees shared with USA TODAY.
“We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster,” Morris said in the 2024 memo. “We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates.”
