Sam’s Club CTO Quits Over Walmart’s Return-to-Office Mandate

The Chief Technology Officer of Sam’s Club is reportedly resigning over the company’s return-to-office policy.

Walmart Inc., which owns Sam’s Club, implemented a strict RTO policy this summer requiring most employees, especially executives, to relocate to Walmart’s Bentonville, Arkansas, corporate headquarters. Some employees were given the option to move to other large offices, including Hoboken, New Jersey.

Related: Walmart to Lay Off Hundreds of Employees, Relocate Remote Workers Back to the Office

Bloomberg reports that Cheryl Ainoa, chief technology officer of Sam’s Club, is departing the company after nearly five years rather than move to Arkansas citing “personal reasons.”

Despite Ainoa’s high-profile departure, Walmart’s Chief People Officer, Donna Morris, told Bloomberg in August that most employees chose to return to the office.

Walmart employees had to let the company know by July 1 if they planned to relocate and make the move. Employees must be in the office by October 31, though they may not be taking it well—one reportedly called the policy “a bunch of bullsh-t” on an internal Zoom call.

Related: Alice Walton Is the World’s Richest Woman — and May Soon Be Worth $100 Billion

The return-to-office trend is in full swing. Dell asked employees to return to the office in March and those who didn’t would not be promoted. In September, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees they would have to return to the office five days a week by January 2.

3M, meanwhile, is bringing managers back three days a week. At least they’re not working weekends like Samsung.