Russell Corp. CEO Jack Ward called the 4,000 layoffs
which will take place at the AL-based company over the next
three years "upsizing," according to Roy Williams of the
BIRMINGHAM NEWS. Ward said that as Russell's CEO, he is not
trying "to do a hatchet job on the work force ... [but] to
rebuild the company and position Russell so it can hire more
employees." Ward called the job cuts and restructuring "a
necessary step" for the company to become more competitive
and efficient. More Ward: "[We're] preparing for the future
so we can compete with Nike and Haynes. With global
competition, we realized that Russell must change." Ward
said challenges include finding "skilled workers" and
slowing turnover. Ward: "We had trouble recruiting people
from diverse backgrounds who could help make us a global
company." Ward said to make the company more competitive,
it has spent $2M over the last three months on "research
designed to better identify and meet customer needs." The
company also "hopes to boost its image" by tripling its ad
budget, which totaled 1% of its $1.3B '97 sales. Ward added
that the company will relocate 4,000 jobs to "lower-cost
markets, especially overseas" (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 9/23).
