Lowe's to Cut Thousands of Store Workers, Shuffle Jobs--Update
January 12 2017 - 5:20PM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Nassauer and Paul Ziobro
Lowe's Cos. is cutting thousands of workers and shuffling the
jobs of thousands more, according to people familiar with the
matter, as the home-improvement retailer tries to adapt to shifting
shopping habits.
The company plans to eliminate less than 1% of its workforce, or
fewer than 3,000 jobs, said a person familiar with the matter. But
it also will shift many workers' "back-of-house responsibilities
and activities to customer-facing ones," the person familiar said,
aiming to redeploy them to help answer shoppers' questions about
products or home-improvement projects.
The move comes after the Mooresville, N.C.-based hardware
retailer in November cut its profit outlook for the year, citing
weaker-than-expected store traffic.
"We've got to make sure that as the consumer is changing the
ways they engage with us, we continue to be nimble," said Lowe's
Chief Executive Robert Niblock in an interview at the time. Lowe's
employs around 285,000 people.
CNBC reported earlier about Lowe's layoff plans.
Several big retailers are cutting jobs as they struggle to cut
costs while investing in their e-commerce operations and store
improvements in efforts to better compete with Amazon.com Inc. and
other online rivals.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. plans to cut nearly 1,000 corporate jobs before the end
of the month, after it cut around 7,000 back-of-house jobs at its
stores late last year. Last week, Macy's said it would eliminate
more than 10,000 jobs and close dozens of stores.
In November, Lowe's cut its full-year earnings-per-share
guidance to $3.52 from $4.06, the second such decrease in as many
quarters. Same-store sales expectations were also lowered to
between 3% and 4%, down from 4% previously.
Lowe's has lagged behind its Atlanta-based rival Home Depot Inc.
in recent years, a deficit that analysts largely attribute to Home
Depot's better locations. Home Depot also does more business with
home builders and contractors, which has given its sales a bigger
lift as homeowners take on larger remodeling projects.
While the housing market remains strong, Lowe's is still trying
to navigate a retail market where consumers increasingly turn to
the internet rather than physical stores to buy materials and
research projects. It is using video cameras and other technology
to help it analyze store traffic and adjust its staffing to match
customer needs.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com and Paul
Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2017 17:05 ET (22:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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