Lowe’s laying off to hire more 01-26-2011

LOWE'S HAS ANNOUNCED PLANS TO HIRE ADDITIONAL STAFF FOR WEEKEND SHIFTS. THE COMPANY IS LAYING OFF 1,700 MIDDLE MANAGERS NATIONWIDE IN ORDER TO ADD THOUSANDS OF HOURLY, PART-TIME SALES STAFF ON WEEKENDS. LOWE'S SPOKESWOMAN, CHRIS AHEARN SAID TUESDAY THAT THE COMPANY REDEFINED HUNDREDS OF MIDDLE-MANAGEMENT JOBS AND WILL ELIMINATE THOSE BETWEEN ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER AND STORE MANAGER. THE COMPANY WILL START TAKING APPLICATIONS NEXT WEEK TO FILL THE 8 TO 10,000 NEW POSITIONS THAT WILL BE SPREAD EVENLY AMONG THE 1,725 STORES. BETWEEN 4 AND 8 POSITIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT EACH STORE.