Lowe’s Lays Off 600+ Staff
Lowe’s has laid off more than 600 corporate and support staff as part of a strategic shift for 2026. The move is described as a “frontline pivot” that doubles down on the company's core retail stores and professional customer segments. This restructuring may impact service levels and product availability for DIY customers.
- The layoffs impact less than 1% of Lowe's total workforce of 300,000 employees. Affected positions are primarily back-office and support roles, including staff in IT, product design, user experience (UX), and supply chain. - A WARN notice filed in North Carolina indicates the elimination of 317 jobs in the state, with 178 at the Mooresville corporate headquarters and 49 at a Charlotte technology office. Online reports suggest that many of the laid-off employees were remote workers. - The restructuring comes just weeks before the company is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings report on February 25, 2026. - This move reflects a broader trend in the retail industry, as competitors like Home Depot and Target have also recently cut corporate and support jobs to reallocate resources to frontline store employees. - The focus on professional customers is a key driver of the strategy, as this segment is considered a more stable and higher-value source of revenue compared to the do-it-yourself (DIY) market, where spending has slowed. - To capture more of the professional market, Lowe's has recently made significant acquisitions, including an $8.8 billion deal for Foundation Building Materials and a $1.3 billion purchase of Artisan Design Group. - Internally, some employees have reportedly referred to the layoffs as the “Lowe's Valentine's Day Massacre" in online forums.
