Walmart to close 7,500 stores in 2020, with plans for more closures in 2021

Walmart will close about 7,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada over the next three years, with the majority of the remaining locations set to be in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., its parent company announced today.

The company said in a press release that it plans to close about 300 locations in 2020 and reduce its workforce to around 1,500 workers.

The announcement came as Wal-Marts parent company Walmart has been hit with a wave of layoffs in the wake of the financial crisis, as more than 2,000 of its employees have been laid off in the last six months alone.

The decision to shutter stores follows an initial announcement last week that the company planned to cut nearly 1,400 jobs, as well as a reduction in the number of employees at its U.K. store network.

Walmart said that it expects its workforce will increase by about 1,200 jobs by the end of 2020, while it plans a second wave of workforce reductions to close stores in 2021.

The store closures are part of the company’s effort to shed costs and boost profitability.

Wal-Mart’s U.N. Summit in late May saw the company announce a new initiative to boost productivity by improving customer service, including hiring more team members and using technology to help customers.