Macy's offering alternate positions

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Macy's has begun to offer alternate jobs to about 200 of its 374 Hawai'i employees who were notified earlier this month that they would be laid off as a result of Federated Department Stores Inc.'s recent purchase of Liberty House.

The 374 employees primarily held Liberty House administrative and distribution positions that already exist at Macy's on the Mainland. The planned layoffs will occur between Oct. 8 and Jan. 7.

To minimize cuts, Macy's has held open 114 in-store positions — including store manager, security and sales assistant jobs — and created 61 new regional support positions — including island-merchandise buyer, marketing and administration jobs. All of the available jobs are based in Hawai'i.

In addition, a number of positions on the Mainland at Macy's and Federated are open to affected employees interested in relocating. Macy's could not say how many of these positions are available because the number changes from day to day.

Macy's expects to know how many displaced employees have agreed to accept alternate jobs in the next week or so.

For certain employees, such as some of the 73 merchandise buyers and assistant buyers whose positions are being eliminated, taking an alternate position will not represent a significant change in job assignment. But for others, reassignment may involve transferring from an administrative job to a sales job.

The 374 jobs to be eliminated cover about 50 positions, including human resources personnel, carpenters and senior executives. Macy's has about 2,890 employees in Hawai'i as a result of the Liberty House takeover.

Andrew Gomes can be reached by phone at 525-8065, or by e-mail at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.