a day ago
Walmart Workers Vanish Overnight and Employees Sound the Alarm
Walmart employees are sounding the alarm as sudden staffing cuts sweep through stores nationwide, reportedly driven by changes to immigration work authorizations and legal uncertainty.
Multiple staffers have taken to social media to share that coworkers have disappeared from schedules overnight—sometimes in double-digit numbers, the Daily Mail reported.
One Reddit user claimed their location lost 10 employees with work visas. Another reported 40 departures at a 400-person store, forcing older workers and managers to stretch themselves thin just to keep shelves stocked.
'Most of our older floor associates are constantly asking for help,' one employee wrote. 'It's not really ideal.'
The staffing drop comes as Walmart, the largest private employer in the U.S., moves to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that abruptly ended a temporary work program. The program had shielded over half a million migrants from deportation and granted legal work authorization until the court reversed course in late May.
Retail law experts say the ruling left companies like Walmart in a bind. While the government hasn't provided clear lists of impacted workers, federal filings have stated that companies are responsible for removing unauthorized employees, even if their status was revoked suddenly.
"Employers like Walmart have no choice but to stop employing workers who lack US work authorization," immigration attorney Loren Locke told Daily Mail. "But it is tricky to comply when they have a large number of current employees whose work permits are getting cancelled prematurely."
Walmart has reportedly told managers in Florida and Texas to review HR files and reverify work eligibility for employees tied to the now-defunct identifying those workers isn't simple. The program falls under the same visa classification as others still in effect, making it difficult to isolate affected staff.
The company has not publicly commented, but lawyers warn that this situation exposes the need for smarter employee tracking and support systems. 'We're not talking about people trying to bend the rules. These are employees who've done everything right,' said Los Angeles trial attorney Jamie E. Wright.
No, these employees who followed every rule are finding themselves out of a job.
As customers walk into understaffed stores and employees work overtime to cover the gaps, many are wondering what Walmart's next move will be and whether it will come fast Workers Vanish Overnight and Employees Sound the Alarm first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 1, 2025
