Adidas plans to “cut as many as 500 jobs in a bid to simplify its business” and the layoffs “will affect employees at Adidas’ headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany,” according to sources cited by Golden & Fonrouge of CNBC.com. It will “represent nearly 9% of the 5,800 staffers” Adidas employs at the location. A source said that the company “has not determined how many jobs it will cut,” but “up to 500 positions could be affected.” Adidas will “decide the final number when it is further along in its process.” Employees “learned about the cuts on Wednesday,” just a day after Adidas announced “preliminary” profit results for its holiday quarter . A spokesperson said that the layoffs are “not part of a cost-cutting program,” but “more of an effort to adapt its business to how it has changed over the past couple of years” ( CNBC.com, 1/23 ).
