Office Jobs Take the Hit as PVH, Owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, Cuts About 4% of Staff

PVH Corp., the company behind Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, expects to reduce its global workforce by approximately 4%, primarily in non-consumer-facing positions, which is around 12% of its office-based associates. The plan was set out in a memo sent to employees Thursday morning and in a regulatory filing. The company has not disclosed a detailed breakdown of the positions or markets that will be affected. For Metaintro readers who work in fashion head offices, this guide covers what PVH filed, when the cuts land, what notice US workers are owed, and where fashion office skills are still in demand.

What Did PVH Announce, and How Many Jobs Are Affected?

On November 12, 2026, PVH launched a global enterprise-wide initiative aimed at improving productivity and long-term growth and profitability. The workforce part of that plan is the global cut set out above, and the filing does not give a job count.

The company started the fiscal year with about 26,000 employees. Working from that base, the reduction comes to about 1,000 jobs, which is a trade press calculation and not a number PVH has published.

PVH has over 6,000 retail locations in more than 40 countries, with a supply chain connected to more than 1,000 factories.

The cuts target office-based, non-consumer-facing roles. The filing describes the cuts as primarily in non-consumer-facing positions and does not say store roles are excluded.

Why Are Office Roles Taking Most of the Cuts?

The job cuts sit inside a plan to simplify ways of working through reducing organizational layers and duplicative work, along with clearer accountability and faster decisions. Over the last several years, PVH has divested non-core businesses to focus on Calvin Klein and TOMMY HILFIGER and built global capabilities across supply chain, technology and people.

PVH has simplified before. A multiyear initiative from 2024 already set out to simplify the operating model by centralizing processes and improving systems and automation. The new initiative is designed to scale progress made on the Company's multi-year strategy.

The sales mix shows where the business grew and where it shrank. In the second quarter, owned and operated digital commerce revenue increased 4% while wholesale revenue decreased 6% with declines in all regions. Owned store revenue slipped by a smaller amount, a decrease of 1%, as growth in APAC was more than offset by EMEA and the Americas.

Chief executive Stefan Larsson framed the lesson in his memo: when the company improves the offer all the way through to our doors and stores, it works. He added that the biggest opportunity now is to scale what is working across more of the company.

This will bring teams closer to consumers and key wholesale partners, increase speed-to-market, and help deliver a stronger, more consistent global consumer offering, according to PVH's SEC filing on the plan.

When Will Affected PVH Workers Hear, and What Is the Timeline?

Some of the changes have already started. PVH is beginning to action some of these changes immediately, and the remaining actions are expected in the first quarter of 2027.

The broader program runs longer than the job cuts. The initiative, including non-people actions, is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2027.

The timing can also differ by country. The plans remain subject to consultation, legal requirements and further cost analysis. Delays in implementing the initiative may result from consultation obligations and legal requirements in various jurisdictions. PVH will file an amendment to the regulatory filing once it makes a determination on those costs.

More than 70 per cent of PVH's revenue is generated outside the US. In the second quarter, EMEA revenue decreased 6%, Americas revenue decreased 1% and APAC revenue increased 3%.

How Much Is PVH Trying to Save, and What Has It Spent on Severance Before?

PVH has put a dollar figure on the savings. In fiscal 2027, PVH plans to achieve at least $100 million of pre-tax cost reductions through people and non-people savings, net of strategic investments in growth priorities. That figure includes the $45 million of anticipated annualized run rate savings already discussed on the second quarter earnings call.

From fiscal 2028, the full net pre-tax annualized savings are projected to be at least $150 million. These are company projections, and the financial impact on fiscal 2026 is anticipated to be negligible.

The cost of the cuts is still open. The company is currently unable to make a good faith determination of the pre-tax restructuring costs, which will consist principally of severance and related costs.

Past spending shows what earlier restructuring cost. PVH booked pre-tax restructuring costs totaling $93 million incurred in 2025 consisting principally of severance under its 2024 program. This year it recorded a further $17 million of restructuring costs, consisting principally of severance, across the first half of 2026. Those totals show PVH has recorded severance costs under its earlier restructuring program, but they do not tell any one worker what their package will be.

What Does the Business Look Like Behind These Cuts?

The second quarter was mixed. Revenue of $2.097 billion decreased 3% compared with the prior year. Calvin Klein revenue decreased 7%, partly due to wholesale shipment timing in the Americas, while Tommy Hilfiger revenue was approximately flat.

In EMEA, sales were hit by continued soft consumer demand due to the prolonged effects from the conflict in the Middle East. The quarter also carried a pre-tax noncash goodwill impairment charge of $439 million. In September the company reaffirmed its full-year outlook and expects revenue to be approximately flat on a reported basis, and for the third quarter it guided to a low-single-digit revenue decline.

There were bright spots. E-commerce is the strongest evidence that brand investments are working, in the view of Jefferies analysts writing in an emailed note in October. In the September results, Larsson pointed to stepping up our cost actions while still investing in its brands.

PVH made a variety of leadership changes earlier this year. Alexis Rollier joined PVH as Chief Financial Officer after serving as global chief operating officer at Sephora, and the company named new appointments to head the Americas and Asia Pacific regions.

We are committed to treating everyone impacted with care and respect, and providing them with the support, resources and guidance they need to navigate the transition, chief executive Stefan Larsson said, according to the WWD report on the cuts.

What Notice and Benefits Are Laid-Off US Workers Owed?

PVH is headquartered in New York. Its US staff can fall under the federal WARN Act, and staff at New York State sites also under the state WARN law. Under the federal WARN Act, covered workers must receive a written notice 60 days before the date of a mass layoff or plant closing. If an employer skips the required notice, workers may be able to seek damages for back pay and benefits for up to 60 days.

Federal WARN covers a business with 100 or more full-time workers, not counting workers who have less than 6 months on the job and workers who work less than 20 hours per week, or that employs 100 or more workers who work at least a combined 4,000 hours a week and is a private for-profit business, private non-profit organization or quasi-public entity, and a mass layoff means an employment loss at a single site during any 30-day period of either between 50 and 499 full-time workers at a single site of employment when that is 33% of the site, or 500 or more full-time workers at a single site. When WARN applies, notice is owed even if you are a part-time worker or you work at another site and will lose your job due to this layoff.

New York sets a lower bar and a longer clock. Its law covers private businesses with 50 or more full-time employees in New York State, including mass layoffs involving 25 or more full-time employees when they make up at least 33% of a site. Covered businesses must give notice 90 days prior to a mass layoff, and filed notices appear on the New York WARN Dashboard.

The Labor Department also runs a WARN compliance assistance page with a worker's guide and an interactive elaws Advisor that helps workers understand the requirements of WARN. Two other points are easy to miss. A verbal announcement at an all-employees' meeting does not meet WARN requirements, so a town hall is not formal notice. For health cover, COBRA generally applies to plans from employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year, and people who keep that cover may be required to pay the entire premium for coverage up to 102% of the cost to the plan. Health cover is one early decision, and applying for unemployment benefits is the other.

Is PVH Still Hiring While It Cuts?

PVH still runs an active careers site. Its corporate section covers opportunities at our corporate offices, warehouses, and distribution centers worldwide, and its retail section points to thousands of retail stores worldwide.

PVH also names the areas where it wants to invest. It plans to invest in and scale high-priority growth opportunities including product innovation, consumer insights, digital commerce, supply chain, and technology. The filing does not say how many roles, if any, will open in those areas, and it does not promise redeployment for affected staff.

Applicants to PVH can check who is really contacting them. All communications from the company originate from @pvh.com, @ck.com or @tommy.com, and all currently available jobs are posted on that site. The same page links to an anti-fraud information guide, so check the sender domain before you share personal details with anyone claiming to recruit for PVH.

Where Are Fashion Design Skills Still in Demand?

The wider market for design roles is steady rather than growing. Employment of fashion designers is projected to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,500 openings for fashion designers projected each year, with most of those openings expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force.

Pay depends heavily on where you sit. The median annual wage for fashion designers was $80,960 in May 2025. In management of companies and enterprises, the median was $105,350, compared with $43,020 in retail trade. That spread by employer type is one reason fashion designer pay varies so widely.

Location still matters too. Most fashion designers work in New York and California, and self-employed workers made up 36% of the occupation in 2025. Freelancing is one route, and designers who freelance are under contract, often with long workdays that require them to adjust to their clients' schedules and deadlines.

Online selling is one driver of design demand. The demand for new designs is supported by social media influencers and by retailers advertising and selling directly to consumers online, which matches the channel where PVH grew sales in the second quarter.

What This Means for Fashion Office Workers, and What Should You Do Next?

Read together, the two lists in the filing move money out of office layers and into the growth areas PVH names. The cuts aim at organizational layers and duplicative work, while PVH wants a cost structure that can focus resources where they may have the greatest impact on Calvin Klein and TOMMY HILFIGER. Skills in digital commerce and consumer insights line up with the areas PVH says it will invest in.

• If you work at PVH in the US, ask for your notice in writing and check your site against the federal WARN thresholds, and in New York against the state's 90-day rule.
• Line up health cover early. Compare any other plan you can join with COBRA continuation coverage before you choose.
• Use free reemployment help. The National Toll-Free Help Line at 1-877-US-2JOBS points workers to their nearest One-Stop Career Center, whether or not they received a WARN notice.
• Reframe your experience around PVH's growth areas. Lead your resume with results in product innovation, consumer insights, digital commerce, supply chain, and technology.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: When a company cuts layers, the roles that survive are the ones closest to revenue. Show the sales your work moved, not just the meetings you ran.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many jobs is PVH cutting?

A: PVH expects to reduce its global workforce by approximately 4% and has not given a job count. Based on about 26,000 employees at the start of the fiscal year, trade press puts it at about 1,000 jobs.

Q: Are Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger store jobs being cut?

A: PVH's cuts are primarily in non-consumer-facing positions, which is around 12% of its office-based associates. The filing does not say store roles are excluded, and PVH has not disclosed a detailed breakdown of the positions or markets.

Q: When will the PVH layoffs be finished?

A: Some changes began immediately, the rest are expected in the first quarter of 2027, and the full initiative is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2027.

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