Gap’s San Francisco headquarters at 2 Folsom St. in the Embarcadero. Last week, the company announced plans for another round of layoffs, affecting hundreds of employees.
Google Street ViewSan Francisco-based clothing retailer Gap plans to lay off hundreds of employees as part of a company-wide restructuring that would “flatten the organization” and “improve the quality and speed of decision-making, starting with our leadership team,” interim CEO Bob Martin said on the brand’s latest earnings call.
It is not yet clear how many employees will be laid off and which offices will reduce their workforce. People working in Gap’s international sourcing division were notified of the layoffs on April 18, and the company plans to notify employees of potential layoffs at its San Francisco office later this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. for the first time. On the earnings call, Martin said the job cuts are expected to save the company about $300 million a year, “about half of which is expected to be realized in fiscal year 2023.” . When contacted by SFGATE, a Gap spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
The news comes after Gap cut 500 jobs at its San Francisco, New York and Asia offices last September as the company grappled with declining sales and a loss of around $49 million. over a three-month period ending in July 2022 – a month that also saw the abrupt departure of CEO Sonia Syngal after just two and a half years on the job.
Gap then listed its 162,000 square foot office space at 1 Harrison St. in the Embarcadero – where its Athleta brand was headquartered – for rent or sale in January this year; it came just two years after Old Navy, also owned by Gap, closed its Mission Bay headquarters and consolidated its employees into the office building at 1 Harrison St. At the time, the parent company had said it wanted to create “flexibility” for its divisions.
California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) law requires employers to give 60 days’ notice if they terminate more than 50 employees in a 30-day period. A California Department of Employment Development spokesperson told SFGATE that the department did not receive a WARN notice from Gap on Tuesday morning.
This is the latest in an ongoing series of job cuts affecting businesses based in the Bay Area. On Monday, First Republic Bank in San Francisco’s Financial District announced plans to squeeze out 20-25% of staff while cutting executive salaries and condensing corporate office space; Last week, Oakland’s Clorox said it would cut about 200 positions, or about 4% of its “non-production workforce,” although some of the affected workers have been redistributed to other departments.