American Apparel to Lay Off 180 Employees

American Apparel chief executive officer Paula Schneider will eliminate about 180 jobs in her bid to turn around the struggling Los Angeles-based firm. The majority of those jobs are manufacturing positions located in Southern California. “We are disappointed that we had to make this very difficult decision, however, this is a turnaround,” Schneider said. “This change is meant to restore the financial health of American Apparel, which under previous management, saw losses of more than $300 million over the past five years. This is a very sad day. It is very challenging to go down this route, but we have to conduct business differently in order to thrive.” A spokeswoman for the company declined to say whether additional cuts are expected, saying it was an “ongoing process assessing what the business needs are, depending on inventory.” The 180 positions are less than 2 percent of the company’s overall workforce. It’s yet another hiccup for Schneider, who was tapped to right the business in January. The company recently disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the events surrounding the firing of founder and former ceo Dov Charney. Charney, who was fired from the company last year, has filed a lawsuit in

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