Dive Brief:

• San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. said it will cut 500 jobs as part of its restructuring plan unveiled in March, in which it said it would likely eliminate some 800 jobs in the subsequent year to 18 months. 

• Outsourcing and consulting company Wipro Limited will take over some of the company’s IT, finance, human resources, customer services, and customer relations sections.

• Severance and other costs associated with the turnover will likely show up in Q4 results, the company said.

Dive Insight:

It’s been a long time (the mid-19th century, actually) since Levi Strauss first sold boots and denim clothes to retailers in the American West. Ups and downs and significant changes are inevitable for such a long-lived company.

So far, these job cuts are highly logistical and logical, and could serve to streamline operations. And the company has been here before, and turned itself around. After some of these changes are complete, it will be interesting to see what might be afoot on the retail side.