For Walmart, the competitive environment keeps getting tougher. The company, which operates 5,000 stores and employs more than 1.5 million people in the United States, is trying to stay ahead of the trend toward online shopping. Meanwhile, continually falling unemployment rates have been making employee retention difficult. Somehow the company needs to keep getting more efficient (which means spending less) while maintaining employee engagement. Competing with online retailers, especially Amazon, requires low prices, because price comparisons are easy online. It also replaces some demand for store employees and need for workers in warehouses and other parts of the distribution system. Walmart has addressed these challenges by restructuring work and closing some lower-performing stores, including more than five dozen Sam's Club stores. The cuts free up money for offering more generous pay and benefits and for directing more resources to online retailing. Some of the Sam's Club stores that closed were to be converted to distribution centers. The restructuring decisions include a revised approach to store management, with fewer assistant managers. Walmart also cut department managers in certain departments such as mobile phones, where it could bring in representatives from the phone service providers. In addition, store closures helped to