Home Depot to cut 800 corporate jobs, require workers back to office full time
Home Depot says it is eliminating about 800 corporate jobs tied to its Vinings headquarters.
The home improvement retailer will also require corporate workers to return to the office five days a week, beginning April 6.
Employees were notified about the workforce reduction and new in-office policy Wednesday.
“We are announcing changes designed to increase our speed and agility,” Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO of Home Depot, said Wednesday in a letter to employees, which was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “To extend our industry-leading position, we must position the company to move faster and stay even more closely connected to our customers and frontline associates.”
The cuts at Home Depot come as Amazon announced plans to cut 14,000 corporate jobs and as Sandy Springs-based UPS said it would cut 30,000 positions this year as it embarks on the next phase of its business transformation.
Decker said “this decision was not made lightly,” and he thanked affected associates for their contributions.
Home Depot has said in recent earnings calls that a slow housing market and increased consumer uncertainty have weighed on the retailer.
Many of the affected employees are in technology positions and were working in remote or hybrid roles, Home Depot spokesperson Sara Gorman said.
When asked if the use of artificial intelligence, which Home Depot has embraced across its business, played a role in Wednesday’s announcement, Gorman said, “We’re certainly leveraging AI in our operations, but that had been happening for a while. This really is about aligning our business to our core priorities and to our stores and our frontline associates.”
Affected workers will receive separation packages, transitional benefits and job placement support, Gorman said.
Some affected employees work in other roles across the Store Support Center, what Home Depot calls its headquarters.
Home Depot is expected to file a notice with the state regarding the job cuts. But that had not occurred as of about 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Early last year, Home Depot announced that some workers would have to come to the office four days a week.
Now, corporate workers must be in Monday through Friday, Decker said in the Wednesday letter.
“In-person engagement enables more meaningful support for store and field associates, drives results, and reinforces our people-centric culture and inverted pyramid,” Decker said in the letter.
He added that in-office associates would still have the flexibility to “manage life events” in coordination with their team and leader.
Last September, Home Depot announced a $140 million project to expand its Vinings headquarters and renovate two other corporate campuses in the area, which the company said at the time would support its return-to-work efforts.
The Development Authority of Cobb County gave final approval for a roughly $7 million tax break for the campus overhaul in December, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.
The project was said to create about 250 full-time jobs, some tied to an expansion of Home Depot’s child care center Little Apron Academy.
The other 150 jobs were said to be across departments and include management positions, a Home Depot executive said at the time.
Gorman said Wednesday those hiring plans are still on track.
The labor market has shifted in recent months, Roger Tutterow, economist and professor at Kennesaw State University, said Wednesday at the Pinnacle Financial-Synovus Economic Forecast Breakfast in Cobb County.
“The labor markets are easing, and it’s changed the culture around employment,” Tutterow said.
About three years ago, he said companies were “in the business of labor hoarding” as it was more difficult to attract and retain talent.
“All that has changed in the last nine months,” Tutterow said. “What we’ve seen is the pace of job growth has come down. We’re starting to talk more about some job reduction.”
The Federal Reserve, in its Beige Book released Jan. 14, said an increasing number of Atlanta-area firms reported “recent or planned reductions in force, including through attrition, because of slowing demand and rising costs.”
Decker said in his Wednesday letter that Home Depot’s announced changes were “essential to simplify our business and focus our energy on the priorities ahead.”
“As we turn the page to the new fiscal year, we are more aligned to drive our core business and culture, deliver the best interconnected experience in home improvement, and win the Pro,” he said.
Decker was referring to professional contractors. Home Depot has spent billions to try to win more wallet share from contractors. The company has also launched new AI tools to simplify pro tasks.
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