Retail industry furloughs passed the one million mark in the United States this week as T.J. Maxx, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch became the latest industry giants to announce cuts.
Ralph Lauren said he would be giving up his $11 million salary after his store employees became the latest victims of the ongoing lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. He joins Michael Kors and Donatella Versace, who will forgo their salary for fiscal 2021.
Dick’s Sporting Goods said an unspecified ‘significant’ number of employees would be furloughed from April 12.
And off-price retailer TJX Companies Inc, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and HomeSense, said on Tuesday it would furlough most of the employees at its stores and distribution centers.
In a statement Dick’s Sporting Goods said: ”As we all know, our economy has ground to a halt. There are no high school or community baseball or softball games, no lacrosse games, no track and field events. Schools, health clubs and businesses throughout the country are closed, including our 800+ stores.
‘Our teammates are the lifeblood of our company — an amazing group of dedicated and passionate people — which makes this an agonizing decision, and one we had hoped we would never have to make.’
Off-price retailer TJX Companies Inc, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and HomeSense , said on Tuesday it would furlough most of the employees at its stores and distribution centers
Ralph Lauren said he would be giving up his $11 million salary after his store employees became the latest victims of the ongoing lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic
Retail industry furloughs passed the one million mark in the United States this week as T.J. Maxx, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch became the latest industry giants to announce cuts
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week has shot to a record 6.6 million – as layoffs increased amid the coronavirus pandemic and more states enforced stay-at-home orders.
A wave of layoffs at restaurants, bars, hotels and airlines has led to a surge in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits.
New claims for unemployment benefits rose to 6.65 million in the week ending March 28, according to figures released by the Department of Labor on Thursday.
The number of first-time applications for jobless benefits was double the previous record of 3.3 million new claims filed for the week ending March 21.
It means that roughly 10 million Americans have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment in the two weeks that the coronavirus started rapidly spreading across the country.
TJX, which had about 286,000 employees as of February 1 according to its latest annual filing, will pay its staff until the week ending April 11.
The company said several executives, including Chief Executive Officer Ernie Herrman, would take a pay cut, a pattern seen across U.S. companies looking to strengthen their balance sheets amid the economic downturn triggered by the health crisis.
Retailers, including Macy’s and Nordstrom have already closed stores and announced staff would be furloughed
Retailers, including Macy’s and Nordstrom have already closed stores and announced staff would be furloughed
Capri Holdings Ltd said on Monday it will furlough all its 7,000 retail staff in North America due to the coronavirus outbreak and expects to reopen stores around June 1, the owner of Michael Kors and Versace brands.
Capri, which had a total of about 17,800 employees at the end of fiscal 2019, said the furloughed employees were eligible for unemployment insurance and other government relief programs.
The Jimmy Choo owner said it would need a smaller workforce once the pandemic ends and was applying for national payroll subsidy programs in various European countries to reduce payroll expense.
‘Given our size and scale, we believe that Capri is well-positioned to continue to operate its business despite this unprecedented situation,’ Chief Executive Officer John Idol said in a statement.
The board’s annual cash compensation will be slashed by 50 per cent and several executives, including Idol, designers and Chief Creative Officers Michael Kors and Donatella Versace, will forgo their salary for fiscal 2021, Capri said.
The company, which acquired Versace last year, said it would also look for ways to reduce overall salaries at various levels by about 20% to preserve cash flows.
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra also furloughed staff without pay, including 73 fulltime musicians.
Tesla Inc told employees on Tuesday it would furlough all non-essential workers and implement salary cuts during a shut down of its U.S. production facilities because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Retailers, including Macy’s and Nordstrom have already closed stores and announced staff would be furloughed.
Elon Musk’s restaurateur brother Kimbal ‘cut off staff access to an emergency fund’ right before the billionaire laid off 100 people
Elon Musk’s restaurateur brother Kimbal stands accused of cutting off staff access to an emergency fund right before he laid off 100 people.
The billionaire announced he would be temporarily closing his Next Door restaurant chain on March 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Employees had paid into a so called Family Fund meant for times of crisis and many had applied for help via it. But when the ‘program was revised’ and the business closed for good, those let go say it was then not available to them.
One worker told Huffington Post Musk had presented his business as ’empowering the community, taking care of people, wanting to invest in people’. They added: ‘That’s part of the shock. Was this all just a hoax?’
Another said: ‘It’s a betrayal. It seems really sneaky. They took people who were loyal to them and they slammed the door in their face. I understand that sometimes business decisions must be made but doing it this way, I felt like it was really wrong.’
Musk told the website the Family Fund was ‘was never intended to support a pandemic’.
Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal, right, stands accused of cutting off staff access to an emergency fund right before he laid off 100 people. The brothers are pictured with their mom Maye
Days after Musk announced Next Door would be closing temporarily with pay cuts for managers and no salary for hourly workers.
Many applied for help via the Family Fund but were told five days later the program was being ‘revised’ and that they would need to reapply through an online link that never arrived.
Then, days later on March 23, Musk closed four restaurant in Indianapolis, Memphis, Cleveland and Highlands Ranch, Colorado, laying off 100 staff.
Those let go were then told it ‘has always been a rule of the program’ that the Family Fund was only for current employees.
Musk, a father of three, says he committed himself eight years ago to a mission promoting sustainable, healthy food after breaking his neck in a mountain accident and narrowly avoiding lifetime paralysis.
He is posted to Instagram in recent weeks praising his ‘amazing team’ making take outs from their Denver location and donating to food banks.
Two weeks ago he said on Instagram: ‘Please call your senators and urge them to include restaurants and their workers in the stimulus package.
‘This is the only way to protect the people and places you love. We simply will not make it without your help.’
The billionaire announced he would be temporarily closing his Next Door restaurant chain on March 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic. He then closed four locations for good
Kimbal Musk told Huffington Post: ‘When the government mandated restaurants to close in mid-March, we helped rally the government for the stimulus package to support workers across the hospitality industry.
‘I’m glad the government has been able to step in and offer a relief package. This is far and above what our Family Fund could provide.’
He added: ‘While we are working on making the Family Fund more accessible to employees at this time, it has limitations of only $400 per eligible employee.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Musk for comment.