NEW YORK — Retail layoffs are hitting especially hard this week.
Online furniture seller Wayfair is cutting about 1,650 jobs, or 13% of its global workforce. Macy’s is laying off about 3.5% of its total headcount, which amounts to roughly 2,350 employees, and the iconic department store is closing five locations.
Wayfair announced its latest job cuts Friday. The restructuring will reduce team sizes across the company and reduce seniority in certain roles with the company planning to “rebuild with modified leveling” this year, CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah said.
“The natural question is to ask ‘Why?’” he wrote in a Friday memo to employees. “I think the reality is that we went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there.”
In January of last year, Wayfair laid off about 1,750 employees — representing 10% of its global workforce at the time. It cut 870 jobs in August 2022, and 550 jobs in 2020.
Friday’s job cuts are expected to bring annualized cost savings of more than $280 million, Wayfair said. The company anticipates incurring about $70 million to $80 million in restructuring costs, mostly for employee severance and benefits, primarily in the first quarter of 2024.
Macy’s confirmed layoffs to The Associated Press via email — with the New York company saying it made the difficult decision as it prepares “to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an everchanging consumer and marketplace.”
A Macy’s department store is in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. Layoffs are hitting the world of retail especially hard this week, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, as Macy’s is laying off roughly 2,350 employees, or about 3.5% of its total headcount. The Wall Street Journal and others also reported that the iconic department giant plans to close five stores Credit: AP/Ted Shaffrey
The five stores to be closed are…
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