Sears is cutting 400 full-time jobs at its headquarters in Illinois and elsewhere as part of its savings plan that will close 150 stores by the end of 2017 but purportedly help the crumbling company pocket more than $1 billion a year.
Sears Holding Corp made the announcement on Tuesday, saying the retailer is close to meeting its goal of "saving $1.25 billion in costs this year," according to Reuters.
Eddie Lampert, Sears' chairman and CEO, started making drastic changes to the company's structure back in February with hopes to save the giant retailer amid serious competition from companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon, according to CNBC.
"We are making progress with the fundamental restructuring of our operations that we initiated in February," Lampert said in a statement.
"We remain focused on realigning our business model in an evolving and highly competitive retail environment. This requires us to optimize our store footprint and operate as a leaner and simpler organization."
The company said it's aware of the impact on its employees.
"While the total number of people who are directly affected represents a small fraction of our total headcount, we are conscious of the impact on individual employees," Sears said.
"We don't take eliminating positions lightly," a Sears spokesman said in a memo. "However, in our efforts to become a more competitive retailer and return our company to profitability, we need to look for ways to streamline the organization. The reductions are taking place across various areas of the company. They represent a mix of positions in various business units and roles across the organization."
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