While the economy is now showing signs that it’s stabilizing – as record inflation numbers continue to decline and unemployment numbers remain low – 2023 was filled with economic uncertainty.
In fact, 2023 had a rocky start when a slew of several major retail companies cut jobs in the beginning of the year, as businesses rushed to reduce costs – setting the tone that the post-pandemic earnings party was over in 2023.
Indeed, after two years of post-pandemic gains, reality hit many companies this year that they may have over-hired in 2021 and early 2022. This led to executives having to make the hard decision to trim staff as inflation-wary consumers tightened their wallets.
As we look back on the year, here are the 15 biggest retail layoffs of 2023.
Watch on FN
Allbirds
Allbirds announced in May that it reduced its global corporate workforce by 9 percent and terminated 21 individuals. While no specific details were given on what roles were affected, Allbirds said in a 10-K filing with the SEC that it expects the estimated expenses related to severance and other employee termination-related costs to be substantially recognized during the second quarter of 2023.
This is the second round of layoffs for Allbirds. Last year, the company said it had laid off 8 percent of its global corporate workforce a month prior in order to cut costs, as well as “dramatically” slowed the pace of corporate new hires.
Amazon
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced in March that the e-commerce giant will eliminate an additional 9,000 positions after concluding the second phase of a strategic review.
According to Jassy, the positions will be eliminated in the next few weeks and will affect roles at its Amazon Web Services (AWS), People, Experience and Technology (PXT), advertising, and Twitch divisions. The company’s senior management team expects to make final decisions on which jobs will be eliminated by “mid to late April,” the CEO said.
This new round of layoffs come just months after Amazon announced it would cut 18,000 jobs in January. Jassy announced the January staff reduction in a memo to employees and said the planning and review process for 2023 had been “more difficult given the uncertain economy” and the company’s rapid hiring over the last few years. The reductions impacted the company’s Devices and Books businesses as well as the retailer’s Amazon Stores and its PXT organization.
Designer Brands Inc.
In March, Designer Brands said it was working to “pare back every line of spending possible,” including labor costs and management incentive compensation. The parent company of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse said that it has streamlined operations, and that “a number” of employees have been affected by this action. The company did not disclose how many employees were affected.
The move is part of a long-term plan that focuses on building its owned brands and delivering $4 billion in revenue by fiscal 2026.
Dick’s Sporting Goods
In August, Dick’s Sporting Goods rolled out a business improvement plan, part of which involves laying off a number of employees at the company’s customer service center.
In tandem with its earnings results for the second quarter, the sporting goods giant said it would implement a “business optimization” plan to align its “talent, organizational design and spending” while simplifying its cost structure overall.
As part of this plan, Dick’s said it eliminated some roles, mainly in its customer support center, on Aug 21. These cuts are expected to yield about $20 million in severance expenses in Q3. Cost savings from these cuts are expected to be offset by further investments in talent over the next year.
Dick’s did not confirm the number of impacted employees. According to a Bloomberg report, 250 corporate employees were let go.
Keen
Keen underwent a series of internal changes, including layoffs and the departure of the brand’s president, John Evons, multiple sources confirmed with FN in August. Three sources revealed to FN that Evons has left the outdoor footwear company, which is based in Portland, Ore.
Aside from Evons’ departure, another source close to the company confirmed Keen underwent a restructuring in June, which included multiple layoffs.
A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed with FN that recent executive departures were unrelated to one another or to the restructuring in June, which resulted in positions being eliminated.
Lululemon
Lululemon underwent another round of layoffs in the wake of its new partnership with Peloton in September. The athleisure brand said the cuts will impact 120 employees across the Lululemon Studio team.
The cuts marked the second round of layoffs for the athleisure brand since July, when Lululemon laid off about 100 employees amid a restructure in its Studio business. At the time, Lululemon said the cuts stemmed from Lululemon’s decision to “fully integrate” the recently launched fitness platform within Lululemon. At the time, a majority of impacted employees were offered other roles in the company, a spokesperson said.
Nike
Some Nike employees took to LinkedIn in November to share that they had recently been laid off from the company as the Swoosh unveiled major C-suite changes across design and marketing.
The news was made public after at least four employees posted on LinkedIn that they were impacted by a round of layoffs that occurred at the Swoosh. According to the posts, the cuts occurred across talent and product management teams as well as in contracted roles like copywriting.
According to one of the posts, the cuts were a part of a general reorganization in the company’s digital business. Another laid off Nike employee shared that she was “one of about 70 contractors” at Nike Brand Creative that was let go.
In February, Nike’s global chief digital information officer Ratnakar Lavu — then the company’s top technology official — left the company. Shortly after, several Nike employees shared similar messages on LinkedIn regarding a wave of cuts across Nike’s talent teams.
Nobull
Nobull underwent layoffs on May 18, the company confirmed with FN. The company did not state how many employees the layoffs affected.
“Regrettably, last Thursday we announced that we are reducing our staff at Nobull. We are a young company and have enjoyed extraordinary momentum since our launch in 2015, but the challenging economic climate has forced us to make the incredibly difficult decision to restructure to safeguard the brand for the future. As a founder-led business, our employees are our family. This was an incredibly hard decision for us to make. Those impacted were dedicated to the Nobull brand, and we are so grateful to them,” Nobull co-founders Marcus Wilson and Michael Schaeffer said in a joint statement emailed to FN.
Nordstrom
After disclosing in late March that it was pulling out of Canada entirely, the Seattle-based retailer began laying off workers within its technology operations in May. At the time, Nordstrom did not respond to inquiries on how many individuals would lose their jobs, or whether there would be cutbacks coming in additional areas of the business.
In Canada, about 2,500 Nordstrom workers lost their jobs as the six Nordstrom department stores and seven Rack stores in the country shut down. The wind-down will result in a loss of about $400 million in sales, and a $35 million improvement in earnings before interest and taxes this year, excluding the $300 million to $350 million in charges this quarter expected from closing the Canadian operations.
PVH Corp.
PVH, the owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, announced its latest round of layoffs in July, as part of an ongoing “streamlining” plan launched by CEO Stefan Larsson. PVH said in a regulatory filing that it was making “additional headcount reductions under these plans” and that it “expects to incur approximately $50 million of severance expense, primarily in the second quarter of 2023.”
“Workforce decisions that impact our people are never easy, and we are providing support for our associates through the transition process,” PVH said in a separate statement. “We are confident we are taking the right steps to capture the untapped growth potential of our brands and be competitive for the future.”
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks will lay off 90 employees next year and end operations at a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, fulfillment center, according to a Nov. 7 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice.
Layoffs are slated to start on Jan. 6, 2024, with a second round of layoffs occurring on March 26, 2023, per the notice. Employees were notified about the layoffs in September. Saks is expected to shift the facility’s volume to other company locations early next year, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
These cuts follow a July report that the company was cutting jobs at it reevaluated its work culture. That’s all according to Marc Metrick, chief executive officer of Saks.com, who also told WWD that another round of layoffs has been initiated, involving under 5 percent of the corporate workforce.
Another source at the time said 30 people were let go at Saks corporate, located in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, where there are about 1,000 individuals. Saks.com has a total of about 2,000 employees. In January, around 100 Saks employees, or 3.5 percent of its total workforce, were let go.
Ted Baker
More staff cuts hit Ted Baker in June. In a statement sent to FN, Ted Baker’s parent company Authentic Brands Group confirmed that there has been a “restructure” at the British fashion brand.
“Through the process less than 15 percent of Ted Baker employees were impacted,” Authentic stated. “Neither store nor customer facing employees were affected.”
And while the specific number of employees affected were not confirmed by Authentic, Drapers reported at the time that around 200 head office roles were eliminated across departments including sourcing, finance, production and footwear.
Under Armour
Under Armour confirmed to FN in June that it has cut 50 roles across various units in its corporate workforce. The cuts were made to help the company reduce expenses and move towards profitability as part of a new stage of growth, the company said in a statement.
“Under Armour made the difficult decision to eliminate certain corporate roles across several functions in the business,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate the commitment and contributions these teammates made and are supporting them during this transition.”
The news comes as Under Armour, helmed by a new CEO, rolls out a plan to revamp its business via its Protect This House 3 (PTH 3) plan, which focuses on reinvigorating brand DNA, focusing on key product areas and growing business in North America.
VF Corp.
Vans owner VF Corp. said in November that it had laid off about 500 employees as it aims to restructure its business and improve operations globally under its new “Reinvent” strategy. The job cuts took place across all its brands, corporate functions and geographies.
“While these decisions are never easy, they will give us the financial flexibility to invest behind our brands and better position us for long-term growth,” a spokesperson said. “We’re committed to handling this restructuring with dignity and respect for all involved and want to thank those impacted for their valued contributions to VF.”
Wolverine Worldwide
In November, Wolverine Worldwide moved to “accelerate” its transformation plan as it looks to “streamline” the organization. As part of this plan, the Rockford, Mich.-based footwear company revealed a new global workforce reduction and organizational redesign.
While Wolverine did not disclosed the number of employees affected by this move, the company said in a press release that these reductions are part of group of initiatives that are expected to deliver $215 million in annualized savings. When contacted by FN, a Wolverine representative declined to provide further information about who or what areas of the business might be impacted.
This round of layoffs followed a round in March that affected employees at the company’s Sweaty Betty brand. Wolverine did not confirm how many employees would be impacted by the staff reduction, which was described as a proposed reduction, and announced other changes to improve the business, such as consolidating office space in London and having Sweaty Betty report into the company’s London-based International Group, which oversees business outside the U.S. and is headed up by Isabel Soriano.
