´óÏó´«Ã½

Walmart, the US supermarket chain, plans to cut 7,000 back office and accounting jobs in its US stores.

The move comes after a pilot programme in 500 stores this summer that tested a new accounting system.

A Walmart official said the employees affected by the changes would have the option of moving into jobs serving customers if they chose to stay.

Walmart, the largest US employer, has been trying to increase the number of staff who deal with customers.

"This is about simplifying how stores work, there are a number of initiatives that are designed to get more associates in front of our customers," said a representative for Walmart.

The changes will be rolled out over the rest of this year and into 2017.

Walmart said employees who stayed with the company would have a choice of jobs, depending on their availability in the stores.

This could mean a change in pay or hours for those staff members.

Walmart, which has been the target of trade union protests over low pay for the past few years, raised its minimum pay rate to $10 per hour earlier this year and changed its scheduling system to improve staffing at peak hours.