Goodwill announces massive layoffs; 1,300 affected in shutdown amid COVID-19 crisis
Goodwill of the Olympics & Rainier Region is the latest to announce massive job cuts with the continued coronavirus outbreak.
This week, Goodwill, in a message posted on its website, said that about 1,300 of its workers would be temporarily laid off.
It closed its retail operations March 19 as a result of the outbreak.
“We have now temporarily halted all of our retail operations for at least the next few weeks and possibly longer and our vocational school remains closed as well,” Goodwill said.
“The stark reality is that without our regular inflow of retail revenue, we cannot continue to cover all of our expenses, and we have made the extremely difficult decision to significantly reduce our workforce. Effective April 3, we will temporarily lay off approximately 1,300 employees, 90 percent of whom work in our retail enterprise.”
Goodwill added it would “retain a set of core staff members to provide critical business continuity functions for the organization and our Executive Team members will take a temporary reduction in salary.”
It noted that: “We view this situation as a temporary, yet critically necessary, step to help our organization survive this crisis and to preserve and protect our Goodwill to continue to serve our community in the future.”
The plan is once Goodwill can reopen its stores, “we hope to recall laid-off employees in all areas of our organization as our retail enterprise rebounds. In the meantime, our Workforce Development team will continue to provide free virtual job training and support services to help as many people as possible regain a foothold in today’s uncertain time.”
Layoffs in the area have been massive amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In Pierce County, 22,145 people filed unemployment claims for the week ending March 28, according to new data from the Washington State Employment Security Department, a 50 percent jump from the week ending March 21. In the past two weeks, 36,875 Pierce residents have now filed a claim after losing their jobs.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 4:38 PM.
