Nearly two dozen Allbirds workers are out of a job, a spokesperson for the San Francisco company confirmed Tuesday.
Known for producing footwear and clothing out of eco-friendlier materials and minding its carbon footprint, the Bay Area B Corp joins a lengthening list of companies battening down the hatches and trimming jobs amid mounting concerns that U.S. economic growth is sputtering to a halt. Companies including Shopify, Rivian, Stitch Fix, StockX and a host of logistics names including Project44 and GXO have all lightened their payroll in recent weeks.
The spokesperson said Allbirds made the decision to terminate 23 global employees after evaluating options to “streamline workflows, reduce duplicative efforts, and put past learnings and operational insights into practice.” Allbirds, which employed 710 at the end of last year, continues to pursue “strategic hires” in areas from sourcing to product to consumers insights, the spokesperson added. The 14 openings listed on the company’s careers page include roles in e-commerce, supply chain, brand marketing and creative design. Allbirds declined to comment on which areas of the business are affected by the job cuts, but is “supporting” the newly unemployed, the spokesperson said.
The cuts positioning Allbirds for the “next phase of growth” come after the company expanded from direct-to-consumer into wholesale earlier this year, announcing Nordstrom, Zalando and Public Lands as its initial retail partners. Stifel last month called out Allbirds’ “alarmingly high” inventory levels, which the investment bank pegged at more than 250 days’ worth of forward supply. Allbirds shares were trading at $5.34 on July 20 when Stifel issued its report putting the company’s price target at $5; the lifestyle brand’s stock closed down 4.37 percent Tuesday at $4.81.
Despite its concern over Allbirds’ inflated inventory, Stifel said the brand’s incursion into wholesale could unlock a crucial opportunity to clear through piled-up product.
It’s been a busy year for the Adidas collaborator, which broke into resale in February with the Trove-powered ReRun platform selling pre-owned sneakers. And while it got one animal-welfare lawsuit dismissed in the spring, the company along with Nike came under fire from animal-welfare groups protesting their use of wool.
Allbirds, which lowered its full-year revenue guidance by $20 million after Russia invaded Ukraine, is scheduled to report second-quarter results on Aug. 8. The company in May said first-quarter sales totaled $62.8 million, a 26 percent year-on-year increase.