Pandora cuts 180 jobs as part of major reshuffle

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 4, 2020

Danish jewellery maker Pandora will remove 180 jobs from its three regional offices as part of a strategic reorganisation to ensure faster operations.

The plan includes reorganising the international structure into 10 clusters, with two clusters in the Americas, three in Asia Pacific and five in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Each cluster will be headed by a general manager, which means three top regional executives will lose their titles: Kenneth Madsen, current president of Pandora Asia Pacific, will leave the company, while Sid Keswani, currently president of Pandora Americas, will become president of the North America cluster. Finally, David Allen, currently president of the EMEA region, will stay with Pandora to support the implementation of Programme Now, although the brand did not disclose in which capacity.

The new organisation will take effect from 2 April, and all general managers will report to a newly established chief commercial officer, who will be announced in the second quarter.

In addition to overseeing the clusters, the CCO will be in charge of a retail excellence function to improve the company’s global retail skills including global merchandising, store development, planning and execution.

The reorganisation will cost the jewellery business SEK0.2 billion, or $21 million, but the company said it will be worth it because it will deliver faster operations. To offer more impactful products, the business is also establishing two Global Business Units with end-to-end responsibility for product performance. One will focus on core products including charms and collaborations, while the other will drive innovations.

“With today’s announcement, we bring our global headquarters closer to our local markets and consumers, and ensure that feedback from consumers can more quickly fuel new concept creations. The reorganisation will reduce organisational complexity, enable Pandora to execute with more speed and agility, and add critical capabilities required to support growth,” said Alexander Lacik, president and CEO of the firm.

The announcement follows the appointment of Carla Liuni as CMO, and of Erik Schmidt as chief HR officer.