DETROIT — Kmart Corp. eliminated 900 jobs Monday, mostly management positions at its headquarters, and said it will further consolidate its clothing division as part of its cost-cutting efforts.

The nation’s No. 2 retailer is trying to cut up to $800 million from its $8.5 billion budget by 1996.

Kmart said it notified the 900 employees of their immediate layoffs Monday and paid them through December. The cuts involved virtually every department at its headquarters in Troy, in suburban Detroit.

Most of the job losses were at headquarters, but some also were at the apparel offices in North Bergen, N.J., spokeswoman Mary Lorencz said. The company did not release a breakdown.

Kmart will merge the division’s financial and information operations with similar operations at headquarters. That change will begin immediately and should be finished by July, Lorencz said.

Most of the division’s managers were relocated to Troy in 1992-93. With the latest changes, only Kmart’s distribution center will remain in North Bergen, Lorencz said.

Kmart said previously that it was looking at each piece of its huge operation for cuts. It employs 250,000 people worldwide, including 5,000 at its headquarters. It has 4,000 stores, including Builder’s Square and Borders-Waldenbooks outlets. Of that total, 2,384 are Kmart stores.