Canadian Tire laying off 3% of corporate staff and cutting another 3% of open jobs

Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. has cut about three per cent of its corporate work forceas it responds tosoftening consumer demand.

The retailer announced the job cuts in its quarterly earnings on Thursday, and said that on top of the job cuts it haseliminated "the majority of current vacancies" that add up to anotherthree-per-cent cut to its corporate headcount.

According to regulatory filings, while the company has about 34,000 total employees, its corporate head count amounts to just shy of 7,000 people, so the job cuts represent the loss of about 200 people.

The company says the moves will cost it up to $25 million in the short term, but lead to long term savings of $50 million.

The move comes as the company revealed quarterly results that showed sales declined across most of the company's brands, which includes the eponymous retail chain but also SportChek and Mark's.

Canadian Tire comparable store sales fell by 0.6 per cent. SportChek sales were down by 7.4 per cent. Sales at Mark's eked out an increase of 0.2 per cent.

Despite the softening sales outlook, the company raised its dividend for the 14th year in a row. The annual payout will now be $7 per share, up from $6.90 previously.

"Against softening consumer demand, our [third quarter[results show the continued resilience, relevance, and underlying strength of our business," Canadian Tire chief executive officerGreg Hicks said in a statement. "We remain focused on driving value for our customers as we head into the important fourth quarter."