Just left the company for an opportunity but found out my Director and several teammates were laid off this morning. Campus facilities contacts have let me know HR readied several rooms to start laying off North American employees. This is due to mismanagement and misleading, not performance. The people adidas is laying off have spent the last year on empty teams with no backfilling empty roles no matter how business critical; they sacrificed work-life balance, mental and physical health, and general well-being bc the company told them “impossible is nothing” and that they were valued members of the team. What a huge violation of trust, self-sacrifice, and promises made. I’m disgusted.
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Thank God I retired, although if I’d known I’d stayed and payed to leave!
I can’t believe there’s been no scrutiny of the head of sales at the company. Or the president, for that matter. That seems strange, since they’re the ones that should be most accountable for results.
Can anyone from PDX share information on what departments it is affecting? It is it across all jobs or concentrated in certain parts of the org?
Enter George Michael singing Freedom! https://youtu.be/diYAc7gB-0A?si=gvBrXPYEflZA_GUo
Yikes. Has anyone asked their leaders about this?? We have a clear leadership problem in NAM across SLT. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge on this thread
Feel really sorry for those who were affected. Some advice, THIS IS A BUSINESS, NOT A FAMILY. I was there for 11+ years (left a long time ago), sacraficed a lot and in the end left and found something MUCH better (better balance and 2.5x the pay). Don't believe that they care/give a sh*t about you, they don't. Don't think you will get promoted based on your work, you won't. You neeed to be willing to play the game and sacrafice your integrity (right RM). I value my time there, learned a lot, traveled the world, worked with some great people, but at the end of the day always remember the only person willing to look out for you is YOU.
NAM employee here - my team got hit hard but I've survived (for now). Some were on PTO when notified - can you imagine being with your family and getting this call?
There's no rhyme or reason to the layoffs. Look at the top talent who were let go in NAM in the last couple of years - it wasn't performance or personality based as many of them were top performers! Corporate layoffs are now just a race to the bottom - make those quarterly figures look good by reducing labor costs to keep shareholders happy. If the roles are backfilled at all, it's with offshore talent at a fraction of the salary. If not backfilled, that means more work for the rest of us + the anxiety that we could be laid off next through no fault of our own. Yay!
Impossible is: giving my loyalty, heart and soul to a company that gives none of that in return because they're too busy hyping the brand with Bey/Messi collabs. Disgusting.
Anyone else shocked by the lack of info about this? Clearly they did not layoff anyone in the PR department.
I was a P1 in Portland. Only a week prior I was celebrated with the senior leadership team with a company paid for party for the great work I had done. I had regular meetings with my own line managers in which I was told I was doing great and that I was valued as an employee and as a person and that I need not worry about the my future with the company and that my loyalty was valued….
I was one of the employees who got the lovely call while on vacation that I am not allowed back on campus, that my email had been deleted, I need to ship my equipment to the office, and that my personal belongings will be mailed to me.
I was told the org was restructured and that I don’t fit with their plans. No further explanation. My own manager expressed that they are legally not allowed to discuss anything with me.
I played a critical role in keeping this company alive through the pandemic often sacrificing my mental health and time with my family to do so. I believe Rupert recently stated the mental health of the employees is a top priority of the company, but this seems to be another lie. I am questioning why I put any effort beyond bare minimum if this is the result. Hr and my director vehemently expressed this was not a decision based on performance and reiterated that I have been an amazing employee. They couldn’t wait until I returned from my vacation to tell me because they were worried I might hear about this from someone other than them and that they didn’t want me to be unsure of where I stood when returning which seems silly to me as my managers knew I did not bring my work or equipment with me and had expressed prior to me leaving that I should try to get work as far away from my mind as I could so that I could return as refreshed as possible and that I truly earned a break.
Good thing the company spent so much money to bring Messi to a country that barely gives two cents about soccer only to not have enough money to pay for their low level employees.
I feel absolutely foolish for caring about this company and doing anything beyond the bare minimum.
For anyone that’s still around don’t bother putting in the effort. You don’t matter and they’ll just hire someone younger and cheaper. Don’t worry about promotions as they don’t exist in adidas. Answer those headhunters emails I’m sure you’ve received, I know I received a handful in my time with adidas and stupidly turned them down due to this idea of “loyalty”. I got played and laid off in a phone call. They couldn’t even show their faces in doing this. Good luck and be sure to jump ship before they pull your card.
Impossible IS something. It’s impossible to call adidas a good company to work for.
My husband was one if the 8/23 layoffs. He received a call from his (former) director and adidas HR manager during the last few days of our family vacation (a vacation that was planned and approved by his director many months ago). Wish they could have waited to let us know when he got back or even before we had left, out of respect, especially as he was a top performer who received nothing but praise from his supervisors and colleagues. Nothing like spending money on vacation just to find our income severely impacted for our family.
My daughter was one of the people laid off. It is affecting people in PDX and Greenville, SC. Not sure about anywhere else. To those thinking this is false information, you have no clue.
Let’s all start by not trusting you, no proof, baseless speculation.
Hard to even find details about this round…much less a second round.
I only saw part of the announcement, just a cropped screenshot. Not in US, so I’m not in the loop on this, but what I did see was just a lot of of hot air about a new “game plan,” Tough to make sense out.
@3hxr+1ofNtslD I doubt there is a second layoff coming soon. It’s time to stabilize now. If you know something then inform us here. I think you at a troll. Otherwise share the source and the departments that will be hit.
My heart goes for all the adidas people since there is a second layoff coming. Trust no one
Nike does the same thing, has a terrible internal culture, and regularly lays off employees 1 to 2 times a year, please take your troll out of thread. Heart goes out to all those in the adidas PDX office for many many reasons.
Nike > Adidas !
Does this affect LA or PDX?
I guess this is the same thing as the overall NAM “Game Plan” ? I don’t sit in NAM, so I really can’t make any sense out of all those changes… Lots of words, but I have no clue what it means!
Peace and love to those who have been impacted…you didn’t deserve it this way.
This was bad. There were people on vacations that got the call they were layoff immediately. Don't go back to the office, just follow instructions on how to return your equipment... We all know these are "standard practices" in big companies, but then don't go to your employees with the speech that you care about people and you are different.
adidas will get what they give: 0 loyalty from the people left behind, burned out, scared and confused. Great leadership for sure they will be happy enjoying their bonus.
That is right. They were high performance people with high scores. Then just "get out immediately" no explanation, no sense. They have been overloaded for the last couple of years. With no plan no guidance just changes on direction. They were loyal to the brand that "cares about people".. Terrible leadership in North America. Good luck for the ones that stay there.
Leadership still cleaning the mess up from 4 years ago, it wasn't just Ye causing the pain. The next documentary should be How to ruin a Legacy through Bad Leadership.
Oh the stories, mistakes, opportunities and NPS stories to tell the world. I bet there's still 100+ people thankful and coming out from under their desks today. Probably more. Thank god I was safe this re-org, until next time folks! Confidence level zero.
OH NO…. I’m so sorry to hear this.
Nothing about this hit my rumor mill in Herzo yet…So we’re in the dark over here…and I am ferried to ask anyone directly now.
Head’s up dear colleagues. This is not a reflection on you.
"layoffs starting 8/23/23" is this going to be an ongoing situation or was yesterday it in terms of layoffs?
Heartbreaking to see so many great people leave.
The moves made today are not about personal or department performance, it’s about, wait for it, money. How much $ can the brand save in salary by letting VP’s, senior directors, and directors go.
GOPs based roles in NAM seem to be the restructuring target
And if a particular department/functions are affected, why them? Why not some other department?
Any idea what departments/functions are affected?
Kanye sales catching up...
They are horrible and now it’s completely showing!! I hope everyone see it now!! BEWARE!!