Walmart is eliminating several jobs and closing its Charlotte, North Carolina office as it relocates employees to its main hubs in California and Arkansas, according to an internal memo obtained by USA TODAY.

The multinational retail corporation is asking staffers based in Hoboken, New Jersey, and other smaller offices, to relocate to its newly opened headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas and its office in Sunnyvale, California, Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, wrote in a memo.

"Our values and culture are strategic differentiators for us as a company, and they are fostered by being together," Morris wrote in the recent memo. "We’ve already seen the benefits of having more teams working together in person, and today we are sharing another step that will help accelerate our momentum."

“We are making these changes to put key capabilities together, encouraging speed and shared understanding."

According to Morris' memo, Walmart has had discussions with the employees who are directly impacted by this decision and is "working closely with all affected associates to help them navigate the path forward, including providing relocation support or severance."

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Why is Walmart relocating?

This decision is a part of Walmart’s bigger relocation strategy that began last year, and it’s occurring when many U.S. corporations are mandating that employees return to the office three to five days a week.

With the closure of Walmart’s Charlotte office and the cutting of numerous corporate roles as part of this relocation process, hundreds of jobs are expected to be eliminated, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In 2024, Walmart asked employees in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto to relocate to bigger hubs, most of which went to the main office in Bentonville. Changes in “some parts of our business … will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles,” Morris said in May in a separate memo to employees shared with USA TODAY.

“We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster,” Morris said in the 2024 memo. “We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates.”