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The move will reportedly affect assemblers and maintenance workers.
- Lowe's is laying off store workers across the country, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
- The cuts reportedly only affect in-store assemblers and maintenance staff.
- "Associates who were in these positions will be given transition pay and have the opportunity to apply for open roles at Lowe's," a Lowe's spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement.
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"We are moving to third-party assemblers and facility services to allow Lowe's store associates to spend more time on the sales floor serving customers," Lowe's told Business Insider in a statement. "Associates who were in these positions will be given transition pay and have the opportunity to apply for open roles at Lowe's."
According to the Journal, the affected roles include in-store assemblers and maintenance staff.
It's unclear exactly how many employees were laid off, but the number is likely in the thousands given the company has 1,725 stores.
Read more: Lowe's is cutting hundreds of jobs and switching even more employees to its headquarters
A Lowe's spokesperson told Business Insider that the company is not disclosing how many workers are affected, "as they vary by store and all associates have the opportunity to apply for open roles within Lowe's."
This isn't the first such instance where the company's pivot to third-party vendors resulted in job losses. Back in April, 207 North Carolina employees were laid off at the retailer's storage facility in Charlotte.
According to the company's most recent annual filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lowe's workforce is made up of 190,000 full-time and 110,000 part-time employees.
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