Canada’s oldest retailer is cutting around 2,000 positions in North America as part of a transformation plan to tackle a tough retail climate amid increasing threat from online competitors.

The job losses were announced Thursday afternoon by the Toronto-based retailer – Hudson’s Bay Company – amounting to about three per cent of its global workforce. 

The plan is expected to save more than $350 million per year when fully implemented. Some of the layoffs included in the figure were previously announced in February. 

“This is a fairly big move in terms of the number,” Retail Advisors Network co-founder Bruce Winder told CTV News Toronto. “It’s definitely sending a signal that they mean business in terms of trying to cut costs.” 

The majority of the layoffs will be in the United States, HBC indicated to CP24. 

The transformation plan is designed to make the company “more agile” in the changing retail landscape, transform its cost base and better integrate the in-store and online customer experience. 

“This is really about trying to survive in a new age of retail where mall traffic is down 10 per cent and retailers are buying more online,” Winder said.

The announcement follows a six-month operational review of North American operations. Founded in 1670, HBC employs over 66,000 people and operates more than 480 stores in North America and Europe. The company’s stable of retail banners includes Hudson’s Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue, Home Outfitters and Lord & Taylor.

The company is also creating separate leadership teams for each banner, with a dedicated Canadian team that will focus on Hudson’s Bay and Home Outfitters and another dedicated team to focus on Lord & Taylor in the U.S.

HBC said Alison Coville will be the new president of Hudson’s Bay in Canada.

The company also said it plans to focus on digital to create “a seamless in-store and online shopping experience.” Other changes include retraining for store employees and a centralized marketing department.

The job cuts come on the heels of HBC’s first-quarter earnings, which showed a net loss of $221 million, more than twice the $97 million loss it had in the same period last year. 

“It’s not a big surprise, unfortunately, because HBC has had a few rough quarters recently,” Winder said.