On Wednesday, Walmart confirmed it has begun to lay off corporate employees. The confirmation comes a week after the company warned that due to inflation, consumers had pulled back on discretionary spending, and it would need to slash its profit outlook.

In a statement the company said the layoffs were a way to, “better position the company for a strong future.”

Through Anne Hatfield, a Walmart spokesperson, the company declined to say how many cuts there have been or in what divisions they were made. She did note Walmart was still hiring in its supply chain, e-commerce, health and wellness and advertising sales divisions, which were still seeing growth. She noted, “Shoppers are changing. Customers are changing. We are doing some restructuring to make sure we’re aligned.”

As the nation’s largest employer, employing nearly 1.6 million Americans, the company is seen as a bellwether for the overall economy. When it cut its quarterly and full year profit guidance, it spooked investors, and cast a pall over the entire retail sector, drawing down stocks from Macy’s to Amazon.

Walmart noted in its warning that it believed as shoppers were forced to spend more money on necessities like groceries and fuel, they were unable to spend more on high margin merchandise like apparel. The company said it would have to discount those items to move them, as an inventory glut piled up in stores, as well at competitors like Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Later, the company noted it was seeing softening demand for electronics, which are expensive discretionary products consumers can defer purchasing.

Job openings dropped sharply in June, but the labor market remains tight, with 1.8 job openings per worker. Many companies which experienced record sales and growth during the pandemic have been forced to cut back as the lockdowns and stimulus came to an end.

Amazon reduced its workforce by 99,000 workers to 1.52 million employees globally by the end of Q2. The company’s worker base had nearly doubled during the coronavirus crisis, as it struggled to keep up with the demand from shoppers who wanted to shop from home.

Amazon noted the reduction had been accomplished primarily by attrition, on an earnings call with reporters.

Shopify and Robinhood also recently announced layoffs, while Meta and Alphabet have announced they will slow hiring.

It is unclear if Walmart has slowed hiring, allowing attrition to shrink its employee base.

The next employee headcount will come when the company reports quarterly earnings on August 16th.