Herbert Hainer, adidas Group’s chief executive officer, announced Nov. 5 in a letter to shareholders that the company plans to lay off approximately 14 percent of the global workforce in its golf division by the end of 2015.
The letter was part of adidas’ quarterly financial statement. The report showed that sales in the TaylorMade-adidas Golf division rose 6 percent in the third quarter, to 159 million euros (approximately $173 million). However, Hainer said that the year-over-year improvements mainly came as a result of easier comparisons with last year’s performance.
Regardless of the findings of an internal strategic review, Hainer announced that the layoffs would take place as a part of an overall restructuring plan designed to make the division more efficient.