Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) has terminated the employment of its staff in its Nook Hardware engineering unit, according to report from Business Insider based on information obtained from a source familiar with the situation.
The report indicated that Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) laid off the employees last Thursday. The termination of its Nook hardware engineers came after the bookseller dismissed Bill Saperstein, VP of Hardware division last month.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) confirmed that it reduced its workforce in its Nook Hardware Engineering unit. The company clarified that it did not eliminate its entire hardware division.
Barnes & Noble realigns NOOK for future success
The spokesperson of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) emphasized that the management of the company is clear about its focus on actualizing the Nook business and positioning it towards success and value creation in the future.
According to him, the company aligned Nook’s cost structure with business realities, and the staffing levels in certain areas of the organization were changed and resulted to job reductions. The spokesperson refused to provide specific details regarding the job cuts.
Nook worst-performing business unit
In June last year, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) decided to stop manufacturing tablets and to implement a partnership model to significantly reduce its losses from its Nook business.
Nook emerged as the worst-performing business unit of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS). Its revenue declined by 32.2% year-over-year and recorded $45.2 million EBITDA losses during the September quarter last year.
Last month, the bookseller reported that the holiday sales of NOOK segment was $125 million, down by 60.5% compared with the same period a year earlier. Michael Huseby, CEO of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) said, “Sales in the NOOK segment declined year-over-year largely because during the previous holiday season the company introduced two new tablet products, while no new tablets were introduced this year. Instead, we executed our plan to sell through our existing high-quality devices.”
Barnes & Noble remains committed to Nook group
The spokesperson of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) said the company is still committed to the NOOK group. He said, “We believe we have a strong management team in place at NOOK, having recruited significant new talent. The new NOOK management team is focused on managing the business efficiently so that it becomes financially strong while at the same time aggressively moving to drive revenue growth.”
The shares of Barnes & Noble, Inc (NYSE:BKS) rose 8.81% to $16.06 per share today.
