US fashion, beauty and lifestyle retailer Nordstrom has announced plans to cut 350 to 400 jobs as part of a strategy to improve its operating model.
The retailer said the cuts would primarily affect employees working in its Corporate Center and regional support teams, with numbers being reduced in phases but completed by the end of the second quarter.
The company hopes to save approximately $60m in fiscal 2016 by reducing its headcount, but is conscious of the impact the job losses will have on employees. It noted in a release that in an effort to “minimise impacts on current employees, the company will first look at options such as closing unfilled open positions. Employees whose roles are eliminated will receive separation pay and benefits”.
Blake Nordstrom, Co-President of Nordstrom said: "We will never change our commitment to serving customers, but recognize how they want to be served has been changing at an increasingly rapid pace. Meeting our customers' expectations means we must continually evolve with them. We see opportunities to create a more efficient and agile organization that ensures we're best positioned to achieve our goals."
Nordstrom’s 2015 full-year results were shaky; net earnings totalled $600m, while EBIT were $1.1bn in contrast to net earnings of $720m and EBIT of $1.3bn in fiscal 2014. Total company net sales did grow 7.5% to $14.1bn for fiscal 2015.