What: Canadian e-commerce operation, The Bay, is laying off 250 corporate workers.

Why it is important: With sales softening and the possibility of a recession, layoffs are starting to hit the retail sector.

The Bay, which is part of the HBC portfolio of retail businesses, will be laying off about 250 of its corporate workers at its Toronto headquarters. The brand split off from Hudson Bay in 2021 to drive a digital-first agenda, similar to Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off Fifth which are also a part of HBC and laid off 100 workers at Saks.com earlier this month.

The layoffs occurring at HBC are across various corporate functions as The Bay states that it’s realigning strategic priorities and increasing efficiencies within its operations. The 250 employees at The Bay represent 2% of the workforce while the 100 employees at Saks.com were about 3.5%.

While retail has steered clear from layoffs up until this month, the cuts happening at The Bay and Saks.com could be a sign of what’s to come in the industry. As the recession looms overhead, industry experts believe that this could just be the beginning and other retailers could start laying off executive positions, rather than sales associates, to cut costs and meet sales expectations.

The Bay triggers 250 layoffs