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Sears To Lay Off Another 150 HQ Employees In August

Reduction follows February’s cuts

The belt-tightening continues at Sears, which will cut loose another 150 headquarters workers next month.

According to a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) report filed last month with the state of Illinois, 150 additional layoffs are slated to begin Aug. 25.

A letter to employees from chairman/CEO Eddie Lampert obtained by CNBC indicated that positions were eliminated “across various business units and roles.”

“Having co-workers and friends leave the organization is never easy, but making changes like these are a necessary part of creating a stronger organization in this time of industry disruption,” Lampert wrote.

The latest headcount reduction follows the elimination of about 220 white-collar jobs last February, which represented roughly 5 percent of the corporate staff.

The cuts were part of a plan to trim $200 million in expenses this year in pursuit of a return to profitability. But losses widened during Sears’ first fiscal quarter, ended May 5, when the iconic retailer reported $424 million in red ink.

The company is also closing 116 money-losing stores in September, and is mulling an offer by Lampert to purchase the company’s real estate, its Kenmore brand, and its parts and home-improvement businesses. The buyout would salvage the corporation’s most valuable assets before they lose further value and inject cash into the company’s coffers to help see it through another Christmas selling season.

See: Lampert Offers To Take Kenmore, Stores & Service Units Off Sears’ Hands

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