The latest departure of a senior woman from a German sportswear manufacturer is Amanda Rajkumar.
Adidas, the second-largest sportswear manufacturer in the world, has recently been under fire for its handling of diversity issues. Adidas has now announced the retirement of its lone female executive board member, adding to the exodus of prominent women at the leadership of the company.
The global head of human resources, Amanda Rajkumar, will depart the company the next week after opting not to extend her three-year term, which expires in December.
Rajkumar’s departure from Adidas is the most recent in a succession of departures of senior female managers, including Céline Del Genes, who led the speciality sports division, and Vicky Free, head of global marketing, Nicole Ghezali, and head of global retail. Since the end of 2022, the number of female members in the management board and core leadership group, the company’s two executive leadership bodies, has more than halved from seven to three.
Since the appointment of the new chief executive, Bjrn Gulden, at the beginning of this year, her departure is also the most recent among the senior executives of the sports company. Roland Auschel, a 30-year Adidas veteran who served as the company’s top sales officer, was fired by Gulden in March as part of a boardroom shake-up. Brian Grevy, the group’s director of brands, also submitted his resignation as Gulden took over the position.
In order to quell a severe internal outcry about Adidas’s treatment of racism, diversity, and inclusion, Rajkumar, a British national whose parents were from the Caribbean, joined the German firm in January 2021. 2020 saw the resignation of her predecessor Karen Parkin, who had called internal conversations about racism “noise.”
