Unit of Carter Hawley Hale Plans to Lay Off 30 Workers

The information services division of the Carter Hawley Hale department store chain plans to lay off 30 of its 450 employees here on April 23, the company said Thursday.

Employees affected by the layoffs are mainly computer programmers in the division’s development unit, said Bill Dombrowski, spokesman for Carter Hawley Hale. The company is seeking volunteers to resign in exchange for a severance package.

The development unit provides information and computer services for all of Carter Hawley Hale’s department stores. The layoffs are occurring because a contract to provide computer services for the Dallas-based Neiman Marcus chain will expire in July.

Carter Hawley Hale’s information services division received the contract after it spun off Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Contempo Casuals in a 1987 restructuring. Under the contract, the information services division would process data for Neiman Marcus until the department store chain built its own data processing center, which will soon be in operation.

Company management notified workers on March 19 about the layoffs and asked about 60 employees to consider voluntarily resigning in exchange for severance pay that amounts to four weeks’ pay for each year of employment with the company, Dombrowski said.

Carter Hawley Hale said it expected 30 of the workers, who have until April 20 to consider the offer, to accept the severance. Those offered the severance include some managers.

The company has hired Lee Hecht Harrison Inc. to provide out-placement services for the affected employees. Carter Hawley Hale will also continue medical coverage for employees until they find a new job or up to a year after the layoff, Dombrowski said.