Worked at Walmart up until recently (quit because they refused me time off). This article isn't really correct, I'll add in what I know from the inside:

• The employees being laid off are those in Management, not associates. People are making jokes about self-checkouts working as expected, cashier turnover is nuts. They'll always be hiring cashiers. We've had numerous people quit on day one, or within 2 weeks.

• Management is being restructured because stores had way too many managers. Each department had a SWASS (Store Within A Store Supervisor, salary manager), and a associate manager (hourly). We had upwards of 12 departments in our store, and there was a salary-based manager for each. Walmart is trying to cut this down so now there is one manager for all fresh departments, as opposed to one for dairy, meat, produce, etc. Honestly, that move is for the better. Half the managers just spent their time making themselves look busy by walking around aimlessly. On top of this, managers also had their salaries cut a couple of years back. This change is just reducing the cost of management further.

• As far of employees being "laid off" in terms of sales associates, I know that Walmart is trying to ensure they hire as little Full-Time positions as possible. They're not firing full-timers, but for the 7 months I worked there, not a single full-time position opened up in the store.

I can answer any questions people may have, and add them into edits if they're relevant.