The Russian network Citilink has begun massive staff reductions. A large seller, part of the Merlion Group of Companies, began to lay off employees and merge certain divisions with the distributor of electronics and household appliances Merlion.
First, they cut the outsourced IT specialists, then cut the call center and the website and internal systems support team. According to an employee of the chain of stores, at the end of 2023, entire departments were laid off, and many were offered to quit in one day without the required payment of three salaries and even vacation pay.
The company explains this process by a drop in revenue and profit. Some employees are told about financial difficulties, difficult times ahead, falling sales and reduced product range.
According to Mikhail Burmistrov, general director of the analytical agency Infoline-Analytics, cuts at Citylink are associated with a decrease in the number of retail stores and, possibly, with the optimization of business processes. The company is experiencing difficulties expanding its customer base and product range, suggested Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department of Ricom-Trust Investment Company. The network has a poor distribution of certain types of goods, and it cannot compete with marketplaces, added Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily.