QVC Group lays off 900 workers as the West Chester-based shopping network restructures
The cuts come as QVC’s smaller counterpart HSN prepares to close its Florida campus and move to Chester County.
QVC’s parent company is laying off 900 employees as its home-shopping networks QVC and HSN consolidate their headquarters in West Chester.
The company, which recently rebranded as QVC Group, said in a statement last week that it would be eliminating these positions in conjunction with the closure of HSN’s studio in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“QVC Group today reorganized teams across our company as part of our strategy to grow by becoming a live social shopping company,” executives said Thursday. “As a result of this reorganization, we made the very difficult decision to eliminate a number of roles.”
The cuts represent about 5% of the company’s 17,000 employees. They impact Florida employees of HSN, QVC U.S., and Global Shared Services, including 145 workers who are losing their jobs in a first round of cuts, according to a layoff notice filed in Florida pursuant to the WARN Act.
Two additional rounds of layoffs are planned for later this year, HSN director Alicia Keane wrote in the notice. Ultimately, QVC Group is set to lay off all St. Petersburg employees — with the exception of “a group of corporate support-related team members who will continue their employment in Florida in a remote status,” according to the notice.
No layoff plans for Pennsylvania employees were posted on the state’s WARN notice site as of Monday. By law, companies with 100 or more full-time employees are required to give written notice within 60 days of worksite closures impacting 50 or more employees; layoffs of 50 or more employees and a third of the site’s workforce; or layoffs of 500 or more workers at one location over a three-month period.
» READ MORE: West Chester-based QVC steps into the TikTok age as its parent company rebrands with social media in mind
QVC, which pioneered home shopping in the pre-internet age, has been based in West Chester for more than three decades. Its live hosts and celebrity guests peddle clothes, beauty products, household items, and other goods on live TV at all hours.
But as of late, the company has been up against stiff competition from online- and social-media-based shopping platforms.
QVC Group’s revenue declined in 2024, according to its latest earnings report, as did its total number of customers. About 7.6 million people made a purchase on QVC or HSN in 2024, according to the report, down from 8.1 million in 2023.
To meet customers where they are, QVC Group has vowed to lean more heavily into live social shopping and streaming.
The company said the layoffs are part of this new growth strategy, which includes creating a “live social shopping content engine” and funding expansion to new platforms.