Canadian Tire cuts jobs as part of corporate transformation

Canadian Tire has confirmed cuts to part of its corporate workforce. The company says it is changing its processes to modernize and compete more effectively in a changing retail market. Store employees have not been affected by these cuts. Canadian Tire has not disclosed how many office positions were eliminated or which departments were affected.

In March, the company unveiled True North, a four-year strategy calling for more than $2 billion in investment. Its plans include expanding the Triangle Rewards loyalty program, making greater use of customer data and bringing together work previously carried out separately across its retail banners. Management expects faster decisions and fewer duplicated functions. In business language, the plan sounds reasonable. For people whose positions disappear, it feels very different.

The news became personal when I learned what had happened to a woman I know. She worked in a Canadian Tire office until July and recently received notice that her job was being eliminated. She has more than twenty years of experience in procurement. Her work was far from the sales floor: it involved selecting suppliers, planning product ranges, negotiating and understanding how merchandise makes its way onto store shelves.

It is easy to hear that store jobs are unaffected and conclude that retail workers have little to worry about. But my acquaintance cannot simply move into any available sales position. She needs a role that makes use of her purchasing expertise. Such openings may be less common, and competition for them can be intense. I can imagine how difficult it is to update a résumé after many years of work and explain in interviews why a long-held position came to an end.

The broader job market adds to that concern. Figures published by Statistics Canada on July 11 put June unemployment at 6.9 percent nationwide and 7.8 percent in Ontario. Those numbers cannot predict one person’s prospects, but they are a reminder that finding the right job may take time.

Canadian Tire is speaking about the company’s future. I find myself thinking about the people who spent years helping to build it. My acquaintance’s experience did not disappear with her position. I hope her next employer recognizes its value.

Yuri Natchetoi