Companies Scramble to Avoid the “Trump Tweet”

Companies are fawning all over Trump, citing job creations that were already planned before Trump was elected. Walmart and Amazon are the latest examples.

The Wall Street Journal reports Wal-Mart Touts Plans to Create 10,000 U.S. Jobs in Nod to Trump.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it plans to create about 10,000 U.S. jobs this year, a sign that even the country’s largest private employer feels the need to tout American job growth ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The jobs will come from previously planned store openings, store expansions and new e-commerce services, the company said Tuesday. The retailer said 24,000 additional construction jobs will be supported by those efforts.

The announcement is the latest in a string of public displays from companies looking to head off criticism from the Trump administration about U.S. job losses. Last week Amazon.com Inc. promised to create 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. in the next 18 months mostly through expansion plans already in the works.

With 1.5 million U.S. employees, Wal-Mart dwarfs other employers. But as the company invests more in e-commerce and improving existing stores, the retailer has pulled back on opening new stores, historically the main driver of both sales and employee growth at the firm.

The Bentonville, Ark., company has also been cutting staff and restructuring its operations. It plans to eliminate about 1,000 corporate jobs before the month’s end, people familiar with the matter said last week.

In early 2016, Wal-Mart cut 10,000 store jobs after closing 154 U.S. locations and said 450 positions at its headquarters would be eliminated. Another 7,000 back-office positions were cut from stores later in the year.

Walmart Scorecard

• Wal-Mart cut 10,000 store jobs after closing 154 U.S. locations
• Wal-Mart cut 450 positions at its headquarters
• Wal-Mart cut 7,000 back-office positions
• Walmart plans to eliminate about 1,000 corporate jobs before the month’s end

Add those all up and the grand total is …. +10,000 jobs credited to Trump.

The new corporate necessity is avoidance of the “Trump Tweet”.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock