As new CEO Bjørn Gulden builds out a leadership team at Adidas, the athletic brand’s human resources chief is stepping down. Amanda Rajkumar, executive board member and labor director at Adidas, who oversees global human resources, people and culture, will leave the company July 15, the company announced Wednesday in a press release.
Rajkumar took on the role in 2021, succeeding Karen Parkin, who stepped down in 2020 after employees asked the company to investigate her approach to solving racial problems in the workplace.
Adidas has not named a permanent replacement for Rajkumar, but in the interim, the retailer is shifting her responsibilities to Adidas’ Senior Vice President of Workplaces and Global Functions Michelle Robertson. Robertson will report to Gulden.
Thomas Rabe, chairman of Adidas’ supervisory board, thanked Rajkumar for her contributions. The company credited Rajkumar with unifying the employee experience at the company, increasing employee engagement and “establishing Adidas as a global values-led organization.”
“Under her leadership, we made great progress in fostering a deeper culture of inclusion and creating better leadership accountability,” Rabe said in a statement. “In a period of transition for the company, Amanda put our people at the center of her work and ensured that Adidas continuously obtained top positions in employer rankings around the world.”
The leadership change comes seven months into Gulden’s tenure as CEO. The executive, who took over the top spot in January, already named a new head of global sales. Adidas’ head of global brands also left the company, with Gulden taking over those responsibilities.
