Sears Cuts 400 Jobs, Loses 3 Executives

As part of its restructuring plan to cut $1.25 billion from its expenditures in fiscal year 2017, Sears Holdings Corp. is cutting 400 positions from its headquarters and field operations, the company reports.

At the start of the fiscal year, Sears Holdings Corp., the parent company of department store chains Sears and Kmart, announced its “strategic restructuring program” to cut $1 billion from its operational expenses. After the company released its first-quarter financial report, the retailer announced that it would increase its goal to cut $1.25 billion within the fiscal year.

Since announcing its program, Sears has made several changes to its operations, including closing hundreds of stores, selling its exclusive tool and grilling brands and reconfiguring its real estate investments, according to the company. Before taking into account the most recent store closures and job cuts, Sears employed about 140,000 people at 1,275 retail stores in the U.S. and at its headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, according to the company’s financial reports.

The retailer reports that it is on track to meet its $1.25 billion cost-cutting efforts by the end of the fiscal year.

“We remain focused on realigning our business model in an evolving and highly competitive retail environment,” says Sears Holdings chairman and CEO Edward S. Lampert in the company’s statement. “This requires us to optimize our store footprint and operate as a leaner and simpler organization.”

The company reports that among the 400 positions it eliminated were open positions and contract positions “in an effort to minimize the impact on full-time employees.” According to the Chicago Tribune, the eliminated positions account for about 10 percent of Sears’ headquarters jobs.

In addition to the elimination of those positions, CNBC reports that three executives are leaving the company. Stephan Zoll, president of Sears’ online operations; David Pastrana, president of Sears’ apparel division; and Eric Jaffe, senior vice president of Shop Your Way, the retailer’s rewards program, will be departing.

The company recently lost two other executives, including its second CFO in less than a year, who resigned from the position, and the president of Kmart and chief member officer, who left to lead home decor retailer Pier 1 Imports.