Macy’s will give a leave of absence to a majority of its 125,000 employees because of COVID-19. The retailer was forced to close stores as non-essential businesses must coordinate with national guidelines. These closures have sunk sales tremendously for the company.
Macy’s, which also owns Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, closed all their 775 stores in the United States to slow the spread of the virus. Non-essential business is set to be closed until April 30 as of Sunday.
Macy’s says their financial situation is in a state of peril as the company has lost a majority of its sales. The company is making the move to the “absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations” this week. This will result in furloughs for a majority of workers within the company. Workers will still receive their company-funded health care. CEO Jeff Gennette and the company’s board of directors will stop receiving their salaries to help alleviate the pressure the company is facing.
The company has kept their online services open for orders. However, only a fifth of the company’s revenue comes from online orders. Macy’s stock has gone down nearly 70% this year.
