Seattle-based retail giant Nordstrom laid off an unspecified number of workers from its technology division last week, citing the need to “operate more efficiently.”
The company would not say how many employees remain with its tech team. Impacted roles include software engineers, data analysts, technical program managers, DevOps engineers and others, according to a search of posts on LinkedIn.
“As we continue to invest in technology as a critical area of our business, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our technology workforce, adjusting the team structure and eliminating certain roles to remain agile and operate more efficiently,” a Nordstrom spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire.
Digital sales made up 38% of total sales in Nordstrom’s fiscal 2022. Digital sales decreased in the fourth quarter by 13.1% compared to the same period in 2021 due to the elimination of store fulfillment for Nordstrom Rack digital orders and the sunsetting of Trunk Club, the company said in an earnings release.
Nordstrom recently announced the hiring of Jason Morris as its new chief technology and information officer, effective May 1. Morris comes from Walmart, where he spent more than 16 years and was most recently a vice president of retail technology.
Morris replaces Edmond Mesrobian, who stepped down in October.
Nordstrom previously announced that it was winding down operations in Canada, resulting in the loss of 2,500 jobs. Other retailers are also making cuts to their corporate workforces, including REI, The Gap, Best Buy, Walmart, JCrew and others.
The trend matches moves being made across the tech industry in the wake of continued economic uncertainty and cost cutting, as layoffs have hit companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, F5, Google, Redfin and numerous smaller startups.
