BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Nearly 600 workers at Walmart’s South Bethlehem warehouse will be laid off in the next 60 days, according to a notice to the state Department of Labor and Industry.
The official number of 597 job cuts at the international retail giant’s distribution center at 3215 Commerce Center Blvd. was confirmed Monday in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, or WARN, notice.
- 597 employees will be laid off at the Walmart South Bethlehem distribution center
- Walmart announced forthcoming cuts in February, saying only that it would a few hundred employees
- Walmart is among many major retailers nationwide initiating layoffs
A WARN notice is a federal law requirement for mass layoffs and business closings. The act offers protection to workers by requiring employees to provide notice 60 days in advance of closings or layoffs.
The layoffs at the South Bethlehem facility account for 35% of its 1,700-employee workforce.
The layoffs were anticipated for months. In February, Walmart announced it would cut “a few hundred” employees at the South Bethlehem warehouse.
Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, is reducing its workforce as it braces for an economic downturn in revenue amid inflation concerns.
In March, the company announced it would lay off hundreds of workers based at e-commerce fulfillment centers. Cuts were announced at that time for sites in Fort Worth, Texas; Davenport, Florida; Chino, California; and South Bethlehem.
Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, is reducing its workforce as it braces for an economic downturn in revenue amid inflation concerns.
According to the Walmart website, the company operates about 10,500 retail units in 20 countries and e-commerce websites. It employs 2.1 million worldwide, including 1.6 million in the United States.
The Walmart South Bethlehem warehouse opened in 2014, among five such facilities that opened that year. The warehouse ships hundreds of thousands of orders daily, more than four times its smaller warehouses.
