Macy's plans to cut 2,350 jobs and close 5 stores
Macy's is laying off 2,350 employees and closing five stores. The announcement comes shortly before a new CEO takes over the company.
Straight Arrow News
Department store chain Macy's plans to lay off about 13% of its staff and close five stores to cut costs and redirect spending to improve the customer experience.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Thursday, adding that the job cuts total about 2,350 jobs, or about 3.5% of Macy's total workforce, excluding seasonal hires.
The Journal, citing a memo sent to employees late Thursday, reported that Macy's plans to automate its supply chain more and outsource some roles, although the memo did not specify which jobs would be outsourced.
The company also plans to reduce management layers to speed up decision-making, according to The Journal.
The Journal also reported that Macy's will invest in areas that impact consumers, such as introducing visual display managers to improve store appearance and modernizing digital features to make online shopping more seamless.
Macy's did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.
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Layoffs are also affecting other industries
Macy's joins other major companies across multiple industries that have recently announced layoffs.
Google has announced two rounds of layoffs in the last two weeks, eliminating several hundred jobs across its ad sales, hardware and core engineering teams. The layoffs also affected employees who work with Google Assistant, the company's voice-activated software product.
Amazon's livestreaming platform Twitch also announced earlier this month that it would cut 35% of its workforce. Amazon is also cutting jobs in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios divisions, and other tech companies like Discord and Duolingo announced layoffs earlier this year.
General Motors announced in December that it would lay off 1,314 employees at two plants in Michigan in connection with the suspension of vehicle production.
NBC News also recently announced the layoffs of several dozen employees.