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Wal-Mart Cuts Some Workers’ Hours After Pay Raise Boosts Costs

Shannon Pettypiece
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers at a location in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers at a location in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

 Photographer: Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in the midst of spending $1 billion to raise employees’ wages and give them extra training, has been cutting the number of hours some of them work in a bid to keep costs in check.

Regional executives told store managers at the retailer’s annual holiday planning meeting this month to rein in expenses by cutting worker hours they’ve added beyond those allocated to them based on sales projections.