Sam’s Club CTO Cheryl Ainoa expected to step down following work from home shift

Sam’s Club’s Chief Technology Officer Cheryl Ainoa is expected to step down due to Walmart’s new in-person work policy, reports Bloomberg.

Earlier this year, Walmart announced that corporate employees in the U.S. would be required to work in person at one of three office locations: near New York City, in the San Francisco Bay Area, or in Bentonville, Ark., where Walmart is based.

The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Walmart would continue to allow employees to work remotely part of the time, but they must spend most of their working hours in offices.

Walmart employees in smaller offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto were told to move to other central hubs, such as Bentonville, as well as offices in Hoboken, N.J., and Northern California.

Walmart did not respond to a request for comment or to confirm details. 

Ainoa is refusing to work in Bentonville, where many C-suite executives are based. Sam’s Club confirmed her departure to Business Insider. 

Ainoa, who has been CTO for a year, is also citing personal reasons behind her exit, Bloomberg reported. Before taking on the role of chief technology officer, Ainoa was in charge of Walmart’s emerging-tech team for five years.

Other large retailers are returning to pre-pandemic policies when it comes to remote work. Amazon announced last month that employees need to work in person every day starting in 2025. In February, Kroger employees at the Cincinnati headquarters returned to in-person work for most days of the week.