Sears Canada to cut 1,600 call centre, warehouse jobs

Another round of job cuts is rippling through the operations of Sears Canada Inc., affecting more than 1,600 positions as the company looks for ways to lower expenses.

The retailer says it has eliminated 283 jobs at warehouses across much of the country in a move to simplify logistics.

The company will also outsource the 1,345 associate jobs at its three customer call centres in Toronto, Montreal and Belleville, Ont., over the next nine months.

President and chief executive Doug Campbell says the job cuts are necessary for the health of the company.

Sears Canada is trying to reduce costs and improve its overall business as part of a three-year turnaround plan to respond to intense competition within the retail sector. It has been closing some of its most prominent locations and reducing the number of employees across operations.

Spokesman Dan Madge says Sears warehouses affected by the most immediate layoffs are in Calgary, Montreal, Belleville and Vaughan, Ont., and a Vancouver suburb.