Lowe's to Cut Thousands of Store Workers, Shuffle Jobs

Lowe's Cos. is cutting thousands of workers and shuffling the jobs of thousands more, according to people familiar with the matter, as the home-improvement retailer tries to adapt to shifting shopping habits. The company plans to eliminate less than 1% of its workforce, or fewer than 3,000 jobs, said a person familiar with the matter. But it also will shift many workers' "back-of-house responsibilities and activities to customer-facing ones," the person familiar said, aiming to redeploy them to help answer shoppers' questions about products or home-improvement projects. The move comes after the Mooresville, N.C.-based hardware retailer in November cut its profit outlook for the year, citing weaker-than-expected store traffic. "We've got to make sure that as the consumer is changing the ways they engage with us, we continue to be nimble," said Lowe's Chief Executive Robert Niblock in an interview at the time. Lowe's employs around 285,000 people. CNBC reported earlier about Lowe's layoff plans.