May Co. Lays Off 1500 Workers

The May Department Stores Co. (St. Louis) has laid off about 1500 workers in sales management and support positions, roughly 1.3 percent of its overall workforce.

“We're adjusting the workforce to keep expenses in line with sales,” said Sharon Bateman, vp, corporate communications. The 447-unit department store chain had announced last month that though its first-quarter earnings rose $2 million, it suffered a 7.2 percent decline in sales. Same-store sales were down 8.8 percent.

Bateman said the cutbacks would affect some employees in sales support jobs, like stockroom work and housekeeping, as well as some divisional and area sales managers. A few positions are expected to be trimmed at many of the stores, but the cuts will not affect the number of sales associates.