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.”
In May Columbia trimmed a small number of its staff of about 4,000 employees worldwide with more than half of those affected based at the companys headquarters in Portland, OR. The company didnt release the exact number of lay-offs, but indicated that it was slightly more than the 35 employees that were cut in 1999.
The cuts follow belt tightening across the industry. Jarden Corp. disclosed early this month that it had instituted a companywide hiring freeze that will affect its Outdoor Solutions segment, which includes the K2, Coleman, Marmot and Volkl brands.
Amer Sports, which owns Salomon, ArcTeryx, Atomic and other outdoor and snowsports brands, disclosed in its third-quarter earnings report that it has trimmed 568 jobs in the year ending Sept 30, 2008, including 295 in the Americas.
Cabelas cut its corporate workforce in October by 10%, or about 150 positions. Bass Pro cut 30 corporate jobs in August.
Crocs laid off 27 at its headquarters in Niwot, CO. in May and another 75 in September.
