There is no peace for Clarks. The crisis, the whirlwind of CEOs, the change of ownership, the supply chain problems that have sunk the balance sheet. And now, 103 redundancies. For some years now, the manufacturer of the iconic Desert Boot has been trying to stabilise the business (and finances). An already difficult path in itself, which has now become even more complicated due to the economic situation in the market. And cutting employees is the move to keep costs under control. A decision that comes shortly after CEO Jonathan Ram‘s speech at the World Footwear Congress 2023 in Istanbul. During his speech, Ram had also spoken about staff development.
Clarks’ problems
Since April 2022, Canadian Jonathan Ram has been the CEO of Clarks. He found a company in bad financial condition and with supply chain difficulties. He confessed this in Istanbul during the World Footwear Congress 2023. In fact, the 2022 financial statement saw a reduction in turnover and net profit precisely because of supply chain problems. The company undertook initiatives to support the supply chain, with suppliers seeing reduced collection times.
103 redundancies
But to keep costs under control, Clarks also decided to cut 103 jobs in the global team. The British company justified these redundancies by the difficult economic conditions and the current cost of living crisis. Factors negatively affecting the results, as Fashion United UK reports. In other words, sales are slowing down and, in order to put an almost instant remedy on the profit and loss account, the company’s management decided to cut jobs.
Ram’s ipse dixit
The news is dated 16 November. A week earlier, at the World Footwear Congress 2023 organised in Istanbul, Ram had listed where he had intervened in the company to improve the situation. And he had also mentioned staff development. “Clarity of plans and timely communications are necessary”, he said. Communications that also reached the 103 dismissed employees in a timely manner.
Photo by Clarks
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