After having employed some consulting firms to review the accounts, Clarks announced it will layoff about 860 employees. The mobility move shouldn’t impact production jobs, but only those in retail and offices. The first 160 employees were sent home on Wednesday, May 20th, of which 108 were from the Somerset office. The remaining 700 will take place in the next 18 months. “There are exciting opportunities for our activities – stated Clarks’ CEO, Giorgio Presca – and we need to make the hard choices now to get there”.
860 layoffs announced
Last year, Clarks entrusted McKinsey the job of reviewing the brand’s business strategy. Shareholders of the Clarks’ family spoke to Sky News a few weeks ago, stating that they had chosen a team from KPMG, while the managing team opted for Deloitte. PWC has been charged with evaluating the impacts of Covid-19 on the business. The layoffs are part of the “Made to Last” strategy implemented from the end of 2019.
There will be new hires
The British company pointed out that the layoffs will be partially levelled out by the creation of 200 new jobs. Mr. Presca stated that Clarks’ renewal is complemented by a new strategy for the brand. The focus areas are: sustainability, product innovation, design, quality and digital improvements. “We organized Clarks’ brand portfolio – he concluded – in three distinctive business units, each representative of a unique segment of the footwear marketplace: Clarks Originals, Clarks, Collection e Cloudsteppers by Clarks”. The group’s distribution system is also being reviewed.
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