Builder
PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) on Monday announced layoffs and austerity measures tied directly to the economic shutdown to combat the coronavirus. A spokesman for the company said it was not disclosing the number of employees affected.
“As part of our first quarter earnings release, we reported that following a very strong start to the year, housing demand slowed materially beginning in mid-March as the country was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ryan Marshall, PulteGroup president and CEO. “In response to the pandemic, we quickly modified our sales, construction and administrative processes to allow our business to operate while protecting the health and safety of our customers, trade partners and employees.”
“After an initial significant contraction in housing demand, recent sales trends have been more encouraging as weekly net new orders went from approximately 140 homes in the last week of March to almost 400 homes in the final full week of April that ended May 3,” added Marshall. “While order rates have improved, our net new orders for the month of April were still down approximately 50% from the prior year, so we have taken steps to reduce our targeted overhead expense through a combination of layoffs, furloughs and other cost cutting initiatives. The steps we have taken are expected to reduce overhead expenses by approximately $100 million on an annualized basis, of which approximately $65 million will be realized over the remainder of 2020.”
