Wal-Mart Sam’s Club to cut 2,300 employees

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it is eliminating 2,300 Sam’s Club workers as it strives to better compete with Costco and online membership retailers.

The layoffs make up about 2 percent of the membership club’s U.S. employee count of 116,000, the Associated Press reported.

Sam’s Club spokesman Bill Durling said that a little less than half of those laid off were salaried assistant managers. The cuts also are eliminating some hourly workers.

“We felt this was the right move to make sure we are positioning ourselves for growing in the future,” Durling told AP. “We are trying to rebalance our resources in the field to make sure we are investing in the clubs that have the higher growth potential and balancing resources across the chain.”