Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark., has announced that it will eliminate the zone manager position of one manager in each of its U.S. stores, but will add up to 8,000 new department heads in an attempt to overhaul its store operations, according to Reuters.
There usually are five zone managers for each of Wal-Mart’’s 3,407 supercenters, and those employees will be reassigned to department or assistant manager positions, according to spokesman Kory Lundberg.
The cost of adding another 7,000-8,000 department manager positions is expected to cost the company $1 billion in wages and staffing, though the moves are part of a broad strategy to rejuvenate sales in the U.S. by bolstering customer service, among other things.
“Putting in new departmental managers will make a significant difference,” says Judith McKenna, chief operating officer of Wal-Mart’s U.S. operations.
Along with the new positions, the minimum wage for department managers will be increased to $13 an hour this summer, and $15 an hour next year.
For more information, visit walmart.com. — J.B.