Patagonia is laying off 41 employees — or 1 percent of its total workforce — as the outdoor retailer undergoes a restructure.
Chief executive officer Ryan Gellert announced the changes in a Monday LinkedIn post, which details how the company plans to reorganize business structure in its Ventura, Calif. headquarters to refocus on product, storytelling, impact and responsible business practices while breaking down silos.
“Throughout this process, we evaluated roles, not people, and made every effort to minimize the impact on our colleagues,” Gellert wrote. “New roles were created, some were eliminated and most roles in Ventura are evolving. We bet on our own talent and are filling most of the new roles with internal candidates rather than searching externally.”
The executive added that Patagonia is profitable but is “vulnerable to the same economic headwinds” facing the industry.
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Impacted employees will receive a minimum of 22 weeks of pay, which increases depending on tenure, as well as support for health insurance costs for up to a year.
The news represents the latest staffing changes for Patagonia. In July, the company gave about 90 customer service employees working remotely just three days to move within 60 miles of one of seven company hubs by the end of September, or be forced to exit their roles. Meanwhile, most employees work in offices three days a week, and have been for some time.
In 2022, company founder Yvon Chouinard announced he was transferring ownership of the privately-held business to a nonprofit and specially designated trust. The move was meant to ensure that the company’s profits were completely reinvested in the business or used to further values and goals related to the environment.
As Chouinard put it at the time, “Earth is now our only shareholder.”
