Store accounting and invoicing positions to be eliminated

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans to eliminate about 7,000 back office jobs at its U.S. stores over the coming months, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The move is part of an effort to boost efficiency, and to free store employees to spend their time on the sales floor interacting with customers. But the article notes that the positions being eliminated, in accounting and invoicing, are highly coveted jobs with comparatively high hourly pay. It quotes two employees, one making about $13 and hour, and the other about $15. Last year Walmart boosted its starting wage for full-time store associates to $9 an hour, and this year it boosted starting pay again to $10 an hour, for employees to complete a six-month training program.

The work, which includes managing a store’s cash flow or processing claims from manufacturers that deliver products directly to stores, will be handled by central offices or automated. The Journal reports that Walmart intends to use new money counting machines in its stores to help manage cash flow; the retailer tested the machines in 500 stores earlier this year.