Sears Holdings is eliminating 400 positions as the company continues with its plan to reduce costs by $1.25 billion.
According to the company, a majority of the job cuts are related to the corporate workforce at Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
“We are making progress with the fundamental restructuring of our operations that we initiated in February,” said Edward Lampert, chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings. “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.”
Company officials said Sears has made “significant progress” in its restructuring program, with nearly $1 billion in annualized cost savings already actioned to date. These cost savings include a paydown of approximately $418 million of term loans, an agreement with Metropolitan Life to annuitize $515 million of pension liability to reduce the overall size of the company’s pension plan and the monetizing of certain real estate properties that generated more $200 million in proceeds.
