US clothing retailer GAP to lay off 1,800 workers to cut costs

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US-based global clothing and accessories retailer GAP Inc. announced Thursday that it plans to lay off 1,800 workers to cut costs.

The layoffs are to include employees in upper roles at its headquarters and those who hold leadership titles outside of the headquarters, according to a statement.

The job cuts are expected to provide savings of $300 million annually, according to interim CEO Bob Martin.

GAP has four primary divisions -- Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta and the namesake banner.

The company's stock price was up 0.5% at $9.39 per share at Thursday's closing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Dozens of companies in the US, especially in the tech sector, have been cutting jobs as many industries are struggling with lower income, falling ad revenue and fears of a recession.

In recent months, Disney, 3M, Amazon, Yahoo, Affirm, Zoom, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, PayPal and Google's parent company Alphabet have laid off workers by the thousands.