I was displaced last year in Sept. The day I left WM I spoke with a few VPs who stated these yearly/rolling layoffs are the new normal under JC. My recommendation for all associates is keep your resumes up to date and build a strong external network through LinkedIn. Apply and interview for at least one external job a year to make sure your skills are still relevant. If they are not, find out what skills are in high demand in your field and develop them. There are lots of online courses for free. My network helped me to find a new role in a few weeks but I had to relocate. I chose to remove myself from the yearly chopping block.
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Brilliant advice! My team was laid off last April. Despite being threatened for almost two years, most of team was shocked when we were laid off. None of them had a resume ready. Only 2 of us found a job. I had my resume up-to-date, as well as a strong network that I maintained. It is rumored that the few left standing on my former team are getting let go tomorrow. I am sure that they didn't prepare much in the last 9 months. It's sad.
All too common at Walmart I heard people speaking about interviewing externally as if it will mean that you're committed to leaving. I was constantly interviewing, probably did on average two to three on-site interviews a year. I didn't take anything for years, but I'm glad I did it because you need to understand what's out there while you're in your current job. Bentonville makes it that much more important because it's a little bit more isolated than if I was in Chicago for instance. trust me it helped and all you have to say at the end is no.