Sweden's H&M expects the 2,500 temporarily laid off staff at its headquarters in Stockholm to return to work in July, the world's second-largest fashion retailer said today.
"As it currently stands, we will not seek to extend the furlough period for our staff at the headquarters in Sweden to the July-October period," a H&M spokeswoman said.
None of the lay-offs at the headquarters would be cancelled before July, the spokeswoman said.
In March, H&M said it was in talks to temporarily lay off tens of thousands of employees due to the Covid-19 epidemic but it has since been gradually reopening stores.
Some 1,500 of its around 5,000 stores remain temporarily closed, down from around 4,000 at the height of the closures.
Group sales have tumbled and H&M has warned it will make its first loss in decades in the March-May quarter.
From March 1 up to May 6, local currency sales were down 57% year on year, the company said.
