J.C. Penney Execs Commute To Work Via Jet -- While Laying Off 43,000
Since Ron Johnson became CEO of J.C. Penney, he has been under fire. He has slashed some 40,000 jobs and did away with much of the discount coupons that customers loved, and still the troubled retailer remained on the brink, causing investors and analysts to question the merits of his "transformation" plan. Now, a new report by Bloomberg reveals that Johnson approved J.C. Penney paying for at least nine execs to commute to work via jet.
Johnson, along with the company's head of human resources and two executive vice presidents, commutes from California to Penney's Plano, Texas, headquarters. The company's chief creative officer and senior design executive commute from New York, while another executive commutes from Boston, according to Bloomberg's sources. Six of the executives who commute from California are former Apple colleagues of Johnson's.
More:UBS CEO Paid $9 Million While Laying Off 10,000
Business Insider reports that J.C. Penney has a pair of Gulfstream jets. To purchase these jets would cost $41 million each. A typical round-trip flight from California to Texas would cost around $41,000, Bloomberg reports.
A J.C. Penney's spokeswoman told Bloomberg that "with all the travel that retail leaders do, it doesn't always make sense to uproot and relocate their families."
Since Johnson became CEO in 2011, J.C. Penney has axed 43,000 full-time and part-time positions -- about 27 percent of its staff, according to its annual SEC statement. The company reduced expenses by $386 million, but sales have fallen 25 percent, the lowest since 1987, according to Bloomberg.
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