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"This was a difficult decision that affects friends and associates we care about deeply," a Walmart spokesperson told Business Insider.
- Walmart is laying off close to 600 employees from its corporate office in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- The laid-off accounting and finance employees will be let go between September 2019 and March 2020.
- "As our company continues evolving, we've said we must strike the right balance between managing the needs of our business, our associates and our customers," a Walmart spokesperson told Business Insider.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Walmart's corporate office in Charlotte, North Carolina, will let go of nearly 600 employees between September 2019 and January 2020.
Retail Dive first reported that Walmart will lay off 569 finance and accounting employees and instead turn to the services of New York-based Genpact. Genpact, a one-time spinoff of General Electric that went independent in 2005, is a publicly traded professional-services firm.
"This was a difficult decision that affects friends and associates we care about deeply," a Walmart spokesperson told Business Insider. "We appreciate their important contributions, and we're committed to handling every transition over the next seven months smoothly and respectfully."
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification for North Carolina said that these layoffs will be effective on September 13, 2019. But Walmart isn't shuttering its Charlotte location. A Walmart US regional office will still operate at that location, which will also continue to house the company's human resources-oriented "people solutions" department.
Read more: Walmart's move to a new headquarters highlights just how different it is from Amazon
Affected employees learned of the news last week. A spokesperson said that employees would have anywhere from three to seven months to transition, and that the company would help workers interested in remaining with Walmart to find positions within its stores, clubs, and corporate offices.
Walmart finance and accounting employees who remain throughout the transition period will receive a retention payment, and, once the layoffs occur, a severance package.
According to a Walmart spokesperson, employees will be able to access outplacement services, including résumé and interview training sessions, career counseling, and a number of job fairs.
"As our company continues evolving, we've said we must strike the right balance between managing the needs of our business, our associates and our customers," the spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider.