ATLANTA — Home Depot announced Friday a reorganization of its in-stores human resources staff that will result in a net loss of 970 jobs.

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However, Home Depot spokesman Ron DeFeo said the ultimate effect of the move on overall employment is still unclear because the goal is to use the cost savings to add more workers to the store floors.

Customer service in recent years took a hit at the Home Depot, while rival Lowe's gained market share in the home improvement segment. The Atlanta-based company is in the middle of adding roughly 2,000 associates in its stores. Home Depot's goal is to add three additional positions per store this year, to improve customer service.

The changes disclosed Friday follows the layoff of 500 employees at the company's headquarters in January due to the tough housing market.

The primary reason for the human resources move "is to put more customer-facing hours back on the floor," said DeFeo. "There are no cost savings with this shift," added DeFeo. "Any remaining dollars will be used to fund incremental sales associate positions in our stores."

The company is downsizing it's in-store, human resources staff from 2,200 to 1,000 people.

The remaining jobs will be centralized to 230 district offices.

At the same time, the big box chain will hire 200 employees to staff a human resources call center in Atlanta that will support the new district organization. Home Depot will also hire 30 regional level human resources employees to handle recruitment and other issues.

One associate scheduling coordinator will remain in each store and take on additional human resources duties.

The changes will take effect May 1. The announcement was made to employees on Wednesday.

Current managers will be able to apply for district manager roles. Most of the support staff will have to reapply for human resources or other positions in the company.

"We'll be interviewing throughout the month," said DeFeo. "It's never easy to make decisions that affect our associates."