By Anne D'Innocenzio, Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The head of global human resources at sports apparel and shoe company Adidas resigned Tuesday following criticism from employees of what they see as the company's failure to diversify its workforce.
Karin Parkin's resignation comes after a group of Black employees called on Adidas' supervisory board to investigate her and her strategy for addressing racial issues in the workplace. The employees are also pressing the company based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, to create an anonymous public channel to submit any problems about racism.
The demands from Black employees were reported by The Wall Street Journal in mid- June.
"I am deeply committed to our goals of creating a more diverse, inclusive and equitable company, " Parkin, a board member, said in a statement. "While we have made progress in many areas, there is much more work to be done. However, it has become clear to me that to unify the organization it would be better for me to retire and pave the way for change."
Igor Landau, chairman of Adidas AG's supervisory board, said in a statement that Parkin's decision to leave the company reflects her belief that a new HR leader will "best drive forward the pace of change that Adidas needs at this time."
In the wake of protests over police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd, for which four former Minneapolis police officers have been charged, Adidas, like many other brands, took to social media in support of racial equality. But employees at Adidas and other companies like Amazon accused them of hypocrisy, saying their own workforces lacked diversity.
Following the criticism, Adidas said that it would invest $120 million toward U.S. initiatives focused on ending racial injustice and supporting Black communities through 2025. Among other initiatives, it promised that a minimum of 30% of all new positions — internal and external — will be filled with Black and Latino talent.
Adidas employs about 59,000 people around the world.
Adidas said its CEO Kasper Rorsted will assume responsibility for global human resources on an interim basis until a successor is appointed.
Parkin first joined Adidas in 1997 as sales director for Adidas UK. Since that time, she has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at the company across customer service, business development, supply chain and human resources, culminating in heading up global human resources division over the past 5 1/2 years. She was appointed to the company's executive board in 2017.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTEยฎ,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
โSMPTEโs membership has spoken,โ said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann DโAmato. โThese officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!โ
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More