Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) is cutting 265 jobs in its corporate offices in Toronto and New York as part of a company-wide realignment. The changes are designed to enable HBC to invest in areas of the business offering the most significant ROI potential, according to a company statement.
The job cuts will not affect any sales associates who work in Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue or Sakes Off 5th stores, according to a company spokesperson. Instead, the reductions will primarily take effect in corporate departments such as accounting, finance and IT. Some positions were cut immediately, while others will be phased out over time.
HBC expects the cuts to save the company $75 million in 2016, but anticipates to incur a loss of approximately $20 million in Q3 2015.
Advertisement
To help facilitate more effective business processes, HBC is consolidating store operations to one common platform across company banners, under the leadership of newly hired executives Janet Schalk, Chief Information Officer, and Dion Rooney, Executive VP of HBC Digital. Schalk joined Hudson’s Bay from Kohl’s in August 2015.
As a result of its $2.9 billion acquisition of Saks, Inc. in 2013 and a year-over-year sales growth of 254%, HBC was named the fastest-growing retailer in the U.S. in 2014 by STORES Magazine. The company recently furthered its expansion, closing its $2.8 billion acquisition of German retailer Galeria Kaufhof on Sept. 30.
