Laid off from REI.

What REI layoffs have meant for employees

REI's leaders have described its cuts as decisions about money. A spokesperson tied the April 2020 headquarters layoffs to COVID-19 revenue impacts, Retail Dive reported in July 2020. In 2023 Eric Artz told staff it was vital to get the co-op back to profitability fast, according to a February 2023 Retail Dive report, and announcing the 2024 round, he said outdoor specialty retail had seen four quarters of decline, per Retail Dive's account of that round. When he shut Experiences in 2025, Retail Dive's January 2025 report quoted him saying the business cost significantly more to run than it brought in and that its employees had done "nothing wrong" and "worked extremely hard." CEO Mary Beth Laughton wrote to employees in February 2026 that REI was "still spending more than we bring in," according to Bicycle Retailer. If you're explaining an REI layoff in a job interview, you can cite the reason REI gave for your round, and if you were in Experiences, you can quote what Artz said about the staff.

REI also announced pay and benefit cuts in 2026, which matter if you're thinking about going back to the co-op or moving to another job there. Laughton said in the same February email that REI would reduce starting pay at its stores, distribution centers and headquarters beginning July 1, 2026, and cut benefits for current employees, replacing the guaranteed retirement contribution with a company match, slowing vacation accrual and tying sick time to each state's accrual rules, according to that report.

SoHo and Boston, two of the three stores REI announced it would close, had unions and no contract. SoHo's workers voted to join the RWDSU in 2022 and hadn't ratified one when the store closed, The Village View reported, and Boston's local, UFCW Local 1445, was still bargaining when REI named that store, according to Boston.com. Ten other REI stores had unionized since SoHo, SGB counted in June 2026. In March 2026 the REI Union said the company had illegally declared an impasse, walked away from negotiations and unilaterally cut union workers' wages despite 25 tentative agreements. On the pay and benefit cuts REI announced that winter, an REI spokesperson told Bicycle Retailer the company regularly reviews its rewards package to keep it financially sustainable.

REI's 2025 headquarters notices went to Washington, but the jobs on them were spread across many states. The Technology Division letter in January 2025 listed 45 positions in nine states, from Alaska to Florida, and the Experiences headquarters letter that month listed 78 employees in 20 states, though Washington's table counts that notice at 31 workers; a March letter covered four more, in Planning and Enablement. Each of the three letters says its employees lacked bumping rights and weren't represented by a union. The state's table also starts the Experiences notice on March 31, where REI's letter gave March 21 as the closing date, and Washington's database lists no REI notice for the 2023 or 2024 headquarters cuts. If REI laid you off from a remote headquarters job, you can look for its notices under Recreational Equipment, the legal name on each letter, in our WARN tracker.

If your REI job was in Washington, New York or California, where every REI notice in our tracker went, the claim process for each state is covered in Washington unemployment, New York unemployment and California unemployment. For health coverage after REI, how COBRA works explains electing it and paying for it yourself, and if REI offers you a package, negotiating a severance agreement explains how people push back on its terms.