Walmart to relocate 7,000 jobs

World retail chain giant Walmart on Thursday announced to relocate around 7,000 back-office jobs to other positions in the coming months to deal with increasing competition from traditional and online competitors.

The job relocation will come from its invoice and accounting departments in all its 4,600 U.S. stores, and most of the affected employees will find new customer-facing jobs, Walmart said, adding that the new jobs will include positions like working in the online pickup department or as pharmacy technicians.

Walmart spokeswoman Deisha Barnett said that the company is anticipating that associates move into new roles rather than leave the company.

As for the wage levels for the relocated employees, Barnett said it would depend on what new positions the employees obtain.

Walmart has been hit hard by competition from online shopping sites, particularly Amazon, and the retailer has announced store closures and job cuts several times over the past year.

In June this year, Walmart already cut some back office jobs at 500 stores in what Barnett called a "pilot program" to test out the transition process.

To make its stores more efficient, Walmart is spending billions of dollars to boost its e-commerce sales while reducing inventory and raising wages.

Founded in 1962, Walmart employs about 2.2 million workers worldwide and has 11,539 stores and clubs in 28 countries and regions. Endi