Walmart to Release 2300 Sam’s Club Employees

Walmart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) has announced about 2300 Sam’s Club employees will be laid off, primarily salaried assistant managers, hourly employees and telephone attendants.

“We realized we had pretty much the same club structure whether a club had $50 million in revenue or $100 million in revenue,” a spokesman for the retailer said. “What we’re trying to do is balance our resources.”

The job cuts will affect about four employees a store. Employees will have 60 paid days to find another job at the company. If they are not successful, they will be eligible for severance.

Same-store sales for the membership-based mass merchant were up only 1.1 percent during its last reported quarter. Parent company Walmart hasn’t yet released its holiday or fourth quarter results, but Sam’s main rival, Costco Wholesale Corp. (Issaquah, Wash.), has reported a strong holiday season showed that Costco enjoyed a healthy sales period.

Despite the gloomy nature of the layoffs, Sam’s Club will be opening at least 15 new stores over the course of the next fiscal year, which begins in February.