Another reduction in the retail workforce: this time it is Macy’s announcing a 4% reduction in their workforce, slashing 7,000 jobs. 5,100 of those are at the store level.
“Reducing our workforce is an unfortunate outcome of the current economic environment, and I am frustrated that so many of our people will be unable to move forward with us as we proceed into a very exciting future for Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s,” Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement.
The retailer estimates the restructuring efforts will reduce previously planned expenses by about $400 million a year beginning in 2010.
This is the latest in a line of retail layoffs – last week Home Depot, Starbucks, Williams-Sonoma, and Target all announced layoffs. Best Buy has also announced that they will be cutting workforce in their corporate headquarters later this month.
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With the disappointing Holiday season behind us, the layoffs and retail store closings are continuing to mount:
Today, Home Depot has announced that they are closing their line of Expo home design centers and trimming support staff, resulting in 7,000 reduction in staff. With both home sales and the economy down, shoppers aren’t looking for high end home design solutions right now. The retailer is quick to note that the layoffs will not impact any customer service positions at the Home Depot proper chain.
It appears that their Expo stores weren’t performing well during the housing boom, so it’s no surprise that they would be doing even worse during the current economic conditions.
Another victim of the housing slump is Williams-Sonoma. On Friday, the retailer announced an 18% reduction in their workforce. In addition to stores being effected by the layoffs, the retailer will also close a call center in Pennsylvania and a distribution center in Memphis. I think the high end housewares stores have been hurt badly by both the economic downturn and mid-market retailers like JCPenney and Kohl’s.
Starbucks, who closed 600 stores in 2008, is expected to eliminate 1,000 jobs at their corporate headquarters and reducing district managers and field employees. The published report, prepared by investment firm McAdams Wright Ragen, speculates that these layoffs will happen in early February and won’t effect store-level barista positions.
And don’t forget that last week Circuit City announced that they are closing all US operations with job losses effecting up to 35,000 people.
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