Walmart Inc, the world’s largest retailer, has laid-off more than 50 of its India executives as part of its restructuring efforts in the country. According to a Reuters report, citing Krish Iyer, President and CEO of its India unit, about eight senior management executives were also fired. The move clearly signals the struggles Walmart is facing as a part of expanding its wholesale business in India.
As per the reports, apart from senior executives, the firings mostly affected executives in the company’s real estate division responsible for identifying and activating new locations. Walmart India, has been facing poor growth and it is understood that the company could slow down the pace of opening new wholesale stores. The company may focus on boosting sales through business-to-business and retail e-commerce. The company also appears to be consolidating its back end and logistics operations and there is news of their largest fulfillment center in India located in Mumbai being shut down.
In a related report, The Economic Times said that the retail giant is firing a third of its senior executives at its India head office in Gurugram, including VP’s for sourcing, agri business and FMCG divisions. With regards to the layoff’s ET in its news report has quoted a company source – “We are always looking for ways to operate more effectively to serve our members. This requires us to review our corporate structure to ensure that we are organised in the right way to best meet the needs of our members”.
Walmart, the Bentonville, Ark. based company currently operates 28 wholesale stores in India where it sells goods to small shopkeepers, and not to retail consumers. The company has been placing bold bets on India’s e-commerce sector and paid $16 billion in 2018 to acquire a majority stake in India’s online marketplace Flipkart, which is said to be its biggest global acquisition.
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