Walmart is laying off more than 500 workers at two Bay Area technology centers as layoffs mount

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Walmart has decided to cut more than 500 jobs at the retail giant’s two Bay Area technology centers, providing new evidence that drastic downsizing in the tech sector continues to hit the region.

Documents sent by Walmart to the state Employment Development Department show layoffs at the retailer’s technology plants affected workers in Sunnyvale and San Bruno.

All told, Walmart has decided to eliminate 568 jobs in two Bay Area cities.

Here are the details of the job cuts Walmart is planning at its technology campuses in the region:

—388 jobs in San Bruno at the company’s e-commerce center.

—180 jobs in Sunnyvale, location of Walmart’s next e-commerce complex.

Arkansas-based Walmart did not disclose details of the employment categories affected by the layoffs.

However, in both cases, the places of layoffs are Walmart’s technology research centers and e-commerce office centers.

In 2014 and 2017, Walmart revealed plans to hire several hundred workers in both Sunnyvale and San Bruno. In 2014, Walmart said it planned to establish a center in Sunnyvale employing 1,000 technology workers to support e-commerce.

In 2023, Walmart agreed to sublease its massive technology campus in Sunnyvale totaling 719,000 square feet, one of last year’s largest commercial real estate deals.

Facebook app owner Meta Platforms had been leasing a select office center but decided to offer its north Sunnyvale office center for sublease amid massive layoffs and cuts in space demand.

Potentially, 2,800 to 3,600 Walmart technology employees could work at the new Sunnyvale campus. It was not immediately clear when Walmart would begin moving workers into the office complex it rents in north Sunnyvale. The office complex is located near the intersection of Crossman Avenue and Caribbean Drive in northern Sunnyvale. The property is also located on East Java Drive.

Due to upcoming layoffs in Sunnyvale and San Bruno, Walmart has offered some employees the opportunity to transfer to other offices, according to WARN notices.

“Walmart is asking most remote associates to relocate to one of our main offices,” Walmart said in WARN letters.

The layoffs are scheduled to go into effect on August 9, according to the WARN notices. The layoffs were deemed permanent. Walmart said the facilities where affected workers were housed would not be closed.

“Most moves will occur to our headquarters office in Bentonville (Arkansas), but some will occur to our offices in the Bay Area or Hoboken (New Jersey)” in the New York area, Walmart said in a WARN letter.