Puma announced that 1,400 associates in Germany would shift to shorter work hours until April 13 as sales slump due to the coronavirus, according to a report from Reuters. Its three top executives will also waive their pay for April.
Reuters reported noted that Germany allows companies to apply for state aid to keep people working but switch to shorter hours.
A Puma spokeswoman said almost all stores that Puma and its partners operate had been closed due to the coronavirus. Employees at the company’s headquarters in the southern German town of Herzogenaurach and in its own stores will now work only half of their usual hours but will continue to be paid their full salary due to the short-time work allowance.
CEO Bjorn Gulden, CF Michael Laemmermann and Sourcing Chief Anne-Laure Descours will waive their April salaries, together worth about 170,000 euros ($183,821.00), while the next management level will waive a quarter of their salary.
Puma’s full statement to the media is below.
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PUMA Announces Immediate Measures To Deal With Economic Impact Of COVID-19
“Sports company PUMA has taken immediate measures to ease the impact of the current challenging business environment, as all of its own stores in almost every part of the world, as well as the stores of its wholesale partners, have been closed by authorities.
In the light of this drastic sales shortfall, PUMA’s board members (CEO, CFO and CSO) have decided to reduce their April salaries by 100 percent, while Senior Managers (such as General Managers and Directors) will have their April salaries reduced by 25 percent.
All other PUMA employees in Germany will be working a short time from March 24 to April 13. For employees in our offices, this means they will be working 50 percent of their contractually agreed working hours. As all PUMA stores in Germany are closed, our store employees are on 100 percent short-time working, not working at all. However, all will receive 100 percent of their previous net salary, which consists of short-time pay by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and a voluntary contribution by Puma to top up the rest until April 13, 2020.”
Photo courtesy PUMA Herzogenaurach