Macy's tech workers are afraid of losing their jobs as office closings remain unclear

• Macy’s tech workers are concerned that their offices may close and say they have been kept in the dark by the retail giant.
• “Everyone is talking about this,” one employee from the San Francisco office told Business Insider.
• Earlier this month, WWD reported that Macy’s was considering closing the San Francisco tech office and moving operations to its East Coast offices.
• A spokesperson for Macy’s told Business Insider that the company would not comment on speculation and that it would share details of its three-year strategic plan at an investor day in early February.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Macy’s workers are complaining that they have been left in the dark after rumors that it will close certain tech offices circulate online.

Business Insider spoke to three employees from Macy’s tech office in San Francisco who said that there has been a lot of chatter amongst workers about whether their office is closing; they haven’t yet heard anything official from Macy’s headquarters. These employees – whose identities we confirmed – spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity.

“Everyone is talking about this,” one employee from the San Francisco office wrote in a message to Business Insider. This employee works full-time for Macy’s but said the office was split around 50/50 with full-time employees and contractors.

Two of the employees that Business Insider spoke to said that they were offered the chance to move to Macy’s tech office in Georgia around six months ago by management. One explained that they were asked to go for “cost-cutting measures” but were not told whether they would lose their job if they chose not to relocate. Since then, dozens of employees have left the offices looking for new jobs and their positions have not been refilled, these workers said.

“Every Friday we see last day emails,” another Macy’s tech worker in San Francisco told Business Insider.

“Those who haven’t agreed to be moving are most likely to be fired, except select few who are exceptional and want to be retained by the company,” the employee said. “There are some employees who just don’t believe in this and are just waiting to get fired.”

When Business Insider reached out to Macy’s for comment on this story, a spokesperson said that the company does “not comment on speculation.”

She added: “As we have already communicated with our colleagues, we will be sharing full details of our three-year strategic plan and growth strategies, including any impact to the organization, in early February.” Macy’s has an investor day scheduled for 5 February.

Another San Francisco tech worker said she was “very surprised” when she first heard about the potential restructurings via a WWD article that was shared by a colleague in an internal chat room. She said that Macy’s has historically been extremely “transparent” with communication about changes of this sort.

Concerns of upcoming office closings have spread elsewhere too. A tech worker from Macy’s Cincinnati office, who also works full time for the company, told Business Insider that he has also heard rumors about his own office closing down.

“There seems to be plenty of speculation going around on what is going to happen,” he said, adding that: “Nobody has actually come to me to say what changes are officially being done.”

Macy’s is taking the steps to cut costs as growth at the department store chain continues to slow. To do so, it has been closing underperforming stores. Only this month, Business Insider reported that it would be closing at least 30 stores in early 2020.

At the time, a spokesperson for the company told Business Insider that the company would update investors on these closings at its investor day in February.

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