David Jones slashes Melbourne jobs in pivot to online shopping

David Jones is axing more than 100 workers from its Melbourne stores and head office as the department store giant fights to adapt to the worst trading conditions in a decade.

David Jones is axing dozens of workers. Picture: Mark Stewart

Upmarket department store David Jones has taken a scalpel to its workforce amid some of the worst trading conditions in a decade.

David Jones has revealed it is cutting 120 jobs across its Melbourne head office and stores.

Interim chief executive Ian Moir is forging ahead with slashing costs and reducing the department store’s headcount to adapt to the new realities buffeting the retail sector.

There will be a reduction of 30 jobs at the David Jones head office in Melbourne.

Ninety jobs will be eliminated at regional and suburban stores, it is believed.

Of the job losses at its headquarters, many are in roles that were focused on store rollouts, refurbishments and management.

Such roles at David Jones are taking a back seat at a time when more investment and staff are needed for its digital and online divisions.

David Jones says more investment and staff are needed for its online divisions. Picture: AAP

It is believed there will be no job losses for staff at David Jones’s flagship city stores which continue to be a key focus for management.

Its premier Sydney department store in Elizabeth Street is suffering dis­ruption caused by its $400 million refurbishment.

Despite the cuts, David Jones will still have up to 14,000 staff across its stores and head office.

A David Jones spokesman said the job losses would allow the company to achieve greater alignment between its team and the strategic priorities and initiatives of the business.

“They reflect our strong focus on cost at a challenging time for retail, and will enable continued investment and innovation in-store and online as we further enhance our multichannel customer experience,’’ the spokesman said.

“These changes will not impact our customer experience in any way and are primarily focused on a limited number of stores, where we have plans to optimise and change our offering including through right-sizing store footprints and more focused store curation.

“We remain committed to further customer service initiatives across all of our channels, and we continue to invest significantly in training and systems to enhance the customer experience wherever our customers choose to shop.”

It has been a tough few years for David Jones in the midst of increasingly difficult trading conditions for all retailers.

Last week David Jones’ South African parent company, Woolworths Holdings, told investors the department store chain had suffered a third consecutive year of shrinking like-for-like store sales.

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The company said like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of stores that had opened or closed, slipped 0.1 per cent compared with the previous year.

Woolworths Holdings is not connected with the Australian retail heavyweight, Woolworths Limited.

David Jones moved its headquarters from Sydney to Melbourne last year to tap into the retail expertise in the Victorian capital and consolidate operations with sister company Country Road.