REUTERS/Jeff Mitchell
Employees are being asked to leave shifts early or take longer lunches to trim labor costs, Bloomberg reports based on information from more than three dozen Wal-Mart US workers.
At one Houston Wal-Mart, at least eight sales-floor associations and department managers were asked to leave early one afternoon, according to one employee who spoke to Bloomberg. The employee said her store has been tasked with trimming its labor by 200 hours per week.
Another Wal-Mart in Fort Worth, Texas, was told that the store needed to cut 1,500 hours, according to Bloomberg's report.
Wal-Mart's labor costs have grown since April, when the retailer boosted its minimum wage in April to $9 an hour. Wal-Mart has also been adding more staff to the front of stores to improve customer service and cut down on theft.
Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg said the company is reducing hours, but the reductions only affect stores that have have been overstaffed.
"The reduction in hours is taking place only in locations where managers have overscheduled workers, staffing the store for more time than they've been allotted," Lundberg said. "The reductions won't affect efforts to better staff stores, shorten checkout lines, and improve cleanliness and stocking."