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Walmart revealed last week that it’s eliminating about 1,500 jobs across technology functions and U.S. operations, adding to the waves of recent layoffs seen in the tech space as GenAI recasts roles and skill requirements.
The job cuts, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal, are designed to simplify operations.
In an internal memo, Suresh Kumar, global CTO and chief development officer, and John Furner, Walmart U.S. president and CEO, said that within Global Tech and Walmart U.S. organizations, said, “We have identified opportunities to remove layers and complexity, speed up decision-making, and help associates innovate rapidly. We are eliminating roles as well as opening some new roles aligned with our business priorities and growth strategy.”
More than 600,000 technology jobs have been cut in the U.S. since the start of 2022. The layoffs have been blamed on economic factors and over-hiring during the pandemic, but much of the recent cuts have been attributed to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
More than half of tech hiring managers (54%) expect their companies to conduct further layoffs within the next year, with 45% believing employees whose jobs can be replaced by AI/automation are most likely to be let go, according to a recent report from General Assembly.
Despite the layoff risks, 69% of hiring managers say advancements in AI are very likely to create demand for new roles, and 76% cite strong potential to upskill or reskill employees slated for layoffs. AI development, proficiency with AI tools, and cybersecurity are the most sought-after technical skills.
IT staffing provider Nash Squared’s 2025 Digital Leadership Report found that AI had become the world’s most in-demand tech skill, up from the sixth most-scarce tech skill the prior year, marking the “steepest rise” in the survey’s 26-year history. Other skills seeing jumps in demand include cybersecurity and automation, while demand for software engineers and enterprise architects “has dipped, partly due to AI helping bridge long-standing gaps in these areas,” according to Nash Squared.
Robert Half’s 2025 Building Future-Forward Tech Teams report found 76% of technology leaders reporting that a tech skills gap is evident in their department. The top six tech skills gaps were:
- AI, machine learning, and data science, cited by 44%
- IT operations and support, 39%
- Cybersecurity and privacy, 30%
- Technology process automation, 25%
- Software and web applications development, 22%
- Cloud architecture and operations, 20%
Robert Half wrote, “These are not fringe capabilities by any stretch. And as AI becomes embedded in nearly every business process and cloud environments continue to expand and become more complex, tech and business leaders are under increasing pressure to ensure their teams have the right skills — not tomorrow, but now.”