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Powell’s Books confirmed Monday it has completed a “final round of layoffs” in a series of workforce reductions over the past year.
The company did not release raw numbers, but says it has reduced its workforce by about 20%. Reached by email late last week, Myka Dubay, union representative for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5, which represents Powell’s employees, said ILWU is aware of 40 union positions that have been eliminated across the company over the past year, along with approximately 20 management positions.
According to Dubay, there were 324 union members at Powell’s (including temporary employees hired for the summer season) when layoffs were first announced in August. The count of union employees at the end of the January layoffs was 223.
“These decisions have been extremely difficult, and we recognize their impact on our employees,” Emily Powell, the company’s owner, said in a press release issued Monday afternoon. “With this final round complete, our focus shifts to execution, delivering on the experience our customers have come to expect from Powell’s Books and strengthening the fundamentals of our business.”
The release went on to say that Powell’s has made operational changes “intended to create a more sustainable cost structure” while maintaining the customer experience that has made the company a favorite among bibliophiles in Portland and nationwide.
The company announced plans to reallocate funds toward an expanded retail presence at Portland International Airport, enhanced in-store inventory and merchandising, continued growth in e-commerce and digital operations, and “functional and aesthetic improvements to the City of Books flagship on West Burnside.”
“We are deeply saddened and frustrated by Powell’s decision to lay off union workers who have contributed so much to the company’s success, and who bear no responsibility for the shifting retail landscape or executive-level business decisions that have undermined that success in recent years,” Dubay wrote in a statement to WW. “In addition to the trauma and upheaval for those directly impacted, these layoffs have caused anxiety and uncertainty for all Powell’s workers who have—since August of last year—been watching their co-workers be picked off one by one and wondering who would be next."
Dubay said the union is working to ensure that the layoffs are carried out under the terms of the union contract, which stipulates that most workers are eligible to be recalled if or when Powell’s increases staffing in the future.
“Since the bulk of the union layoffs have affected the areas where Powell’s is now looking to invest, we hope that part of the investment plan includes recalling those workers who were laid off back to their former positions—bringing back the expertise we lost in this traumatic process," Dubay tells WW.
In November, WW reported that Powell’s Books had hired a new CEO, David Maquera, in September with little fanfare. Around that time, Dubay told the Portland Business Journal that Maquera had not responded to the union’s request to meet, as is customary when a new CEO comes on board, and that Powell’s staff had little information about Maquera’s background. On Thursday, Dubay said a tentative meeting between Maquera and the union was on the calendar, but it had been rescheduled once already.
“Powell’s has always focused on the long term,” Powell said in Monday’s press release. “Our work ahead is to translate these changes into results: exceeding customer expectations and operating with the discipline our business demands.”
(Disclosure: The author of this story was a temporary warehouse worker at Powell’s Books for a five-month period in 2014.)
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to include updated numbers and an additional comment by Myka Dubay.
