Gap Laying Off 500 Corporate Employees

Gap Inc. (San Francisco) is cutting 500 corporate jobs at its offices in San Francisco, New York and Asia, The Wall Street Journal reports.

About 8700 people work at the company’s headquarters locations, according to Gap’s annual report, so the layoffs impact nearly 6% of its corporate payroll.

“We’ve let our operating costs increase at a faster rate than our sales, and in turn our profitability,” said Gap interim CEO Bob Martin in a memo to employees obtained by the outlet.

The last six months have been a tough stretch for the retail group.

In April, Nancy Green was fired as CEO of Old Navy, Gap’s value brand. Three months later, Sonia Syngal was ousted as CEO of Gap Inc.

The company then reported lackluster results for its fiscal second quarter, including an 8% sales decline with a net loss of $49 million.

Last week, Kanye West severed his Yeezy partnership with Gap, which had been slowly eroding over the summer. The Journal reports the layoffs are not directly related to the loss of that deal.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal.