Brookfield Properties to Cut 20% of Employees in Retail Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Brookfield Property Partners LP, a large owner of malls in the U.S., is cutting its workforce as the pandemic batters the retail industry.

The job cuts will hit approximately 20% of the employees in the real estate company’s retail arm, according to a memo to staff on Monday. The unit has more than than 2,000 workers, according to a spokeswoman, who declined to comment beyond the memo.

Brookfield bet big on retail in the U.S. with its purchase of mall owner GGP Inc. for about $15 billion in 2018. Since then, pressure has been mounting across the industry, with the pandemic pushing even more customers to embrace the convenience of e-commerce.

The firm’s shares have dropped about 40% this year. In May, Brookfield Asset Management Inc., the parent company of Brookfield Property Partners, announced a plan to invest $5 billion to take minority stakes in retailers that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

The job cuts were reported earlier by CNBC.

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