Burberry plans to lay off 1.700 employees globally in order to achieve around $133 million in total savings by fiscal-year 2027.
The U.K.-based luxury clothing maker announced the move Wednesday as it deals with sagging sales after reporting a 117% fall in its annual pretax profits in its most recent fiscal year.
Burberry had an operating profit of around $558 million in its previous fiscal year, but that turned to an operating loss of roughly $4 million in the most recent fiscal year. Its revenue was down 17% to about $3.4 billion.
CEO Joshua Schulman said in a statement, “While we are operating against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop and are still in the early stages of our turnaround, I am more optimistic than ever that Burberry’s best days are ahead and that we will deliver sustainable, profitable growth over time.”
The majority of the layoffs will come from Burberry’s corporate offices, including its head office in London. On the manufacturing side, according to The Guardian, the company will eliminate its night shift at its Yorkshire raincoat factory and drop one shift at its Castleford trenchcoat factory.
Burberry, which currently employs nearly 9,300 people, will also make changes in its retail stores as it adjusts staff rotations as part of the cost-cutting moves.
