Adidas’ Head Of HR Quits In Ongoing Exodus Of DEI And HR Leads

Amanda Rajkumar, Adidas’ global head of human resources, is the latest HR lead to depart from her role following the pattern of women leaving DEI roles at major companies.

Rajkumar, a British national with parents from the Caribbean, joined Adidas in 2021 to stem an internal uproar over the company’s handling of racism, diversity, and inclusion.

However, the company announced last week the departure of their remaining female executive board member.

Her predecessor Karen Parkin also resigned from the company in 2020 after she described internal discussions of racism as “noise.”

Although Adidas did not give a reason for either of their departures, The Financial Times reported people familiar with the internal discussion said Rajkumar had fallen out with new chief executive Bjorn Gulden over governance issues and HR priorities after he demanded a more direct say in HR matters.

Adidas also recently came under fire after trying to stop the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation from using a three-stripe logo, arguing it resembled Adidas’s trademark.

The sportswear manufacturer eventually backed down after facing public backlash.

An ongoing pattern

Over the past weeks, the media industry lost four DEI leads from layoffs and resignations.

The exits from Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences left many questioning the authenticity of DEI in the workplace.

Brian Brackeen, the organizer of Black Tech Week, tweeted, “DEI’s out of style now,” and others claimed it was just a “performance.”

DEI Layoffs and Job Roles

Roles for DEI first increased during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, with tech companies, in particular, pledging to boost their diversity efforts.

However, Reuters reported early this year that Black unemployment rates hit a record low in March.

The 0.7 percentage point decline in the African American unemployment rate was led by Black women whose joblessness dropped to a record low of 4.2%.

Additionally, the number of companies without DEI programs has increased from 15% in 2020 to 20% in 2022, with an overall 18% decrease in leaders’ endorsement of their company’s overall DEI effects.

Read: Companies Are Regressing On DEI And It’s Hurting Their Performance

DDI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion report found that women and minority leaders are significantly more likely to leave their companies to advance in the workplace and are especially susceptible to burnout caused by professional anxieties. 

Last week, Joanna Abeyie, the BBC’s creative diversity director, also called quits at the corporation.

Simon Albury, Chair at the Campaign for Broadcast Equality, wrote on Twitter: “At least 15 women of color have left the BBC in the last year saying they are “exhausted” from fighting a system that “is not systemically built to support anyone different.” 

“Now Joanna Abeyie has joined that number. It is clear there is something rotten in the BBC.”

Featured image credit: Christine Blei/Adidas