text: More than 2,200 Walmart employees are now unemployed after the retail corporation announced it was temporarily closing five stores for 'extensive' plumbing repairs. Workers at two Texas stores, as well as in California, Florida and Oklahoma, were notified only a couple of hours before they lost their jobs. Almost 550 people lost their job at the Pico Rivera store in California alone. Scroll down for video . More than 2,200 Walmart employees are now unemployed after the retail corporation announced it was temporarily closing five stores for 'extensive' plumbing repairs . 'Everybody just panicked and started crying,' deli department manager Venanzi Luna told CNN Money. Walmart will put both the full-time and part-time workers affected by the closures on paid leave for two months as they  try to transfer to another Walmart location. Full-time workers who aren't able to secure another job at the corporation by June could be eligible for a severance package, but part-time workers will not be eligible. Pico Rivera City Manager Rene Bobadilla said this was the 'first time' he was hearing of Walmart's sewer problems and that store's sudden closure was 'abnormal', he told Reuters. Walmart has not yet requested any building or city plumbing permits, according to employees and city officials. Some employees of the Pico Rivera location believe the store is being closed because it has recently become a center for protests by workers who are demanding better wages and benefits. The Pico Rivera location was one of the first to stage a Black Friday protest in 2012. Some employees of the Pico Rivera location (pictured during a 2013 protest) believe the store is being closed because it has  become a center for protests by workers demanding better wages and benefits . Walmart recently announced it will raise the store's minimum hourly wage to $9 an hour. Store representatives have met with city officials in Livingston, Texas, where 422 employees lost their jobs. Livingston City Manager Marilyn Sutton said the corporation claimed the plumbing problems were 'ongoing and pervasive' and that permits will not be requested until Walmart determines what specific repairs need to be made. In a statement, Walmart said it aims to 'reopen' the stores 'as soon as these issues are resolved and improvements are made.' A spokesman said the five affected stores have nothing else in common except that they have been plagued with plumbing problems for the past two years.
target: Five stores in Texas, California, Florida and Oklahoma have been closed .
  Full-time and part-time employees will be put on paid leave for 2 months while they try to transfer to a different location .
  Walmart said the stores will reopen after 'extensive' problems are fixed .
  Some employees in Pico Rivera, California believe their store was closed because it's become a protest center for higher wages .