Columbia Sportswear Company announced a reduction in force that will affect approximately 75, or 4%, of its 1,800 U.S. employees.


“We believe Columbia Sportswear has tremendous long-term growth opportunities,” said Tim Boyle, Columbia's president and CEO. “However, our recently announced 11 percent decline in orders for spring 2009 and our expectation that U.S. market conditions will remain challenging through 2009, make it necessary for us to better align our planned spending with those realities. We have approached this decision thoughtfully to ensure that we are able to continue investing in our expanding retail store platform and increased marketing.”