Layoffs Imminent At Stampin' Up!
Direct sales stamp and scrapbook company Stampin' Up! announced on March 19th (Thursday) that layoffs at the company are imminent and that the cutbacks will probably start in April.
Stampin' Up! stressed in the announcement that the company carries no debt, a great advantage for the company in dealing with the current economy. But due to the economic situation affecting sales in 2008, Stampin' Up! says it will be forced to make staff cuts in the near future. These cutbacks are still needed, according to Stampin' Up!, despite the fact that the company started making other cost reductions more than a year ago.
This will be the first time in the company's 20-year history, according to Stampin' Up!, that they company has been forced to use major layoffs. But co-founder Shelli Gardner says the measure is necessary to protect the business, which has 40,000 consultants worldwide:
"Our company is sound," says CEO and co-founder, Shelli Gardner. "Making this decision is one of the most difficult things I've ever done, but we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the businesses of over 40,000 global demonstrators by allocating company resources responsibly now."
Stampin' Up! is a twenty-year-old $200-million company with more than 500 employees based in Utah. Its network of 40,000 demonstrators has expanded internationally in the past five years to include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
