REI announces company-wide layoffs

(WTAJ) — Recreational Equipment, Inc. – better known as REI – has announced that the company will be doing layoffs.

In a release from CEO Eric Artz said that the company will be reducing the total workforce by 357 people, impacting 200 people at its Washington headquarters, 6 in customer service, 30 in “experiences” and 121 in distribution centers.

Artz said the outdoor retailer has experienced four quarters of decline, and the trend has been worsening. The company expects conditions to remain “very challenging” throughout 2024 due to the decline.

“While this work was primarily driven by financial necessity, we took a strategic approach to evaluating team structures against business needs to ensure consistency across the organization as leaders made decisions about which roles to eliminate,” Artz said in the release. “While many decisions were based on work that no longer exists, we also focused on reducing duplicative work, layers and hierarchy to build more efficient and connected teams.”

Managers were expected to inform all employees whose jobs are being eliminated in one-on-one conversations by the end of the day Thursday. Every employee whose job is eliminated will receive separation benefits, including severance, according to the release.

“We will talk more about what the path forward looks like over the coming days and weeks, but the next 24 hours are about supporting people. Today, I simply ask that you take care of yourselves and each other,” Artz said.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) protects workers, their families and communities by requiring employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of a plant closing and/or mass layoff.

WARN requirements generally do not count those who have worked less than six months in the last year and those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week. According to an REI spokesperson, the company believes the layoffs announced were in compliance with WARN requirements.

REI reports it has over 16,000 employees working across 181 locations in 41 states.