We went from a boom in sales starting from 2020 (and difficulties in meeting demand), to then starting to struggle with excess inventories from 2022. This led in a short time to many hirings and then having to, for force of things, downsize. Specialized, in the face of this, has announced a global change in the company: the layoffs affect the entire company in the world, including the owned stores in the United States and abroad.
Over the past three years, the industry has changed at an incredible pace and has shown that cycling is as strong as ever. It is clear that the time has come to transform and change for the future.
Last week Specialized made the incredibly difficult decision to say goodbye to 8% of its teammates worldwide. With the global economy changing faster than expected and rapid changes in cycling, the adjustment of the organization will allow the brand to adapt while continuing to invest in innovation.
We are transforming the company towards our goal of “Riding the Planet into the future”. Our priority is to better serve riders, retailers and communities, and to be the best place for our teammates to innovate and grow. The time has come to adapt to the current environment and this has led us to make some extremely difficult decisions today. I want to acknowledge gratitude to the associates who have left the company and thank them for all their contributions, hard work and dedication to Specialized. We are committed to providing them with the utmost support during this difficult time. It may be hard to see right now, but the future of cycling and our brand is bright – Scott Maguire, CEO of Specialized
Recall that in March, the founder of the company, Mike Sinyard, left his role as CEO in favor of Scott Maguire. And it's entered Armin Landgraf (former CEO of Pon Bike and Canyon Bicycles) as the worldwide marketing leader.
