By David George-Cosh
TORONTO-- Sears Canada Inc. said Wednesday it will simplify the
labor structure at its stores, resulting in the reduction of
another 624 jobs at the struggling retailer.
The company said it plans to eliminate a "midtier level" of
employees within its full-line stores, leading to an average loss
of five employees per location. Some related regional and
head-office positions will also be cut.
Earlier this month, Sears Canada said it would outsource its
customer-support business and revamp its logistics operations. It
said those moves would affect more than 1,600 employees. Those cuts
were in addition to nearly 800 job cuts announced back in
November.
"Our current structure results in inefficiencies and barriers to
effective communication among store associates and the changes we
are making are designed to result in better store execution and
consistency of presentation and standards," Chief Executive Doug
Campbell said in a statement.
Sears Canada, which is 51%-owned by Sears Holdings Corp., has
been working to turn itself around in a competitive Canadian retail
market made even tougher in recent years by the arrival of Target
Corp. and other U.S.-based retailers.
Write to David George-Cosh at david.george-cosh@wsj.com
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