Canada Goose to Cut 17% of its Corporate Workforce

Canada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17 percent of its corporate workforce, reports CNBC. This announcement follows a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending. The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose’s corporate headquarters in Toronto, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing. Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its “continued growth,” the filing says.

Total Retail's Take: The job cuts, part of Canada Goose’s ongoing “Transformation Program,” come after what it called a “comprehensive review” of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals. It expects the cuts will bring “immediate” cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing the brand to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient. Like many businesses, the outerwear company seems to be searching for ways to cut costs as growth remains slow. In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6 percent compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts’ expectations.

In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, “Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories and channels.”

The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy’s, Wayfair, Hasbro, and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months. In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.