SRTX has laid off 92 people in Quebec, about 26 per cent of its 350-person workforce, according to records filed this month with the provincial government.
The layoffs follow a temporary cut of 140 people in February. At the time, SRTX blamed the relocate on looming U.S. tariffs and delays in raising new investment.
Company spokesperson Eva Hartling confirmed that 92 people had now been permanently terminated from that group of 140. The temporary cut amounted to 40 per cent of the company’s workforce. Hartling declared a third of those employees have returned to work, “with production running at full steam.”
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SRTX, known for its rip-resistant Sheertex tights, has struggled for years to reach profitability while scaling its business. In December 2024, founder and then CEO Katherine Homuth disclosed that the company—which had previously raised US$250 million in equity and debt financing—was losing US$30 million annually and that it requireded a massive capital injection to keep going.
New tariffs created a “worst case scenario” situation for the company, Homuth declared in February, as SRTX braced for a 41 per cent increase in costs on shipments to the U.S. The company did not state how much it has finished up paying in tariffs.
In March, the company secured US$40 million through a “pay-to-play” deal that offered past investors better terms on their existing holdings in the company if they participated in the next funding round. While the funding gave the company a reprieve, it slashed SRTX’s value from US$325 million to between US$95 million and US$135 million afterward.
As a condition of the deal, Homuth—who founded SRTX in 2017 and grew it into one of Canada’s highest-profile direct-to-consumer brands—had to step down as CEO, which she did in April.
Earlier this month, the company named Montreal retail veteran Sophie Boulanger as Homuth’s permanent replacement. Boulanger, who co-founded eyewear retailer BonLook, is tinquireed with stabilizing the business and obtainting its operations to profitability, which the company has declared it aimed to do by the finish of this year.
The recent layoffs underscore the company’s ongoing efforts to rein in costs even after securing fresh capital. Under Quebec labour law, companies must file a collective dismissal notice when they let go of 10 or more employees within a two-month period. They aren’t required to disclose temporary layoffs lasting less than six months.
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