Adidas HR chief and executive board member Amanda Rajkumar will leave the company this month, the company announced on Wednesday. She has decided not to renew her contract, which expires in December, and will end her tenure at Adidas on July 15.
Rajkumar joined Adidas’ board in 2021 as the company’s head of global human resources, people and culture. She was appointed to her role after employee complaints over racism at the firm led Karen Parkin, former global head of HR, to exit. Adidas’ diversity and inclusion shortfalls had been thrust into the spotlight, and a racial reckoning unfolded at the company, and across corporate America, following the murder of George Floyd.
Now as Rajkumar departs, the head of workplaces and global functions Michelle Robertson will take over as interim head of global human resources, people and culture and will report to CEO Bjorn Gulden.
“I would like to thank the Board and my colleagues for what have been very inspiring years at Adidas. I am proud of what we have achieved, and I wish Bjorn, my colleagues in the Board, and above all, my team, all the best as they continue to successfully transform this iconic company,” Rajkumar said in a statement.
Before joining Adidas, Rajkumar spent almost 12 years at French bank BNP Paribas, culminating in the role of head of HR for the Americas division. She previously worked at JPMorgan in various senior HR management positions.
Chairman of Adidas’ supervisory board Thomas Rabe said in a statement that Adidas made progress in inclusion and leadership accountability under Rajkumar.
“In a period of transition for the company, Amanda put our people at the center of her work and ensured that adidas continuously obtained top positions in employer rankings around the world,” Rabe said. “With the professionalization of the HR function over the last years, overall employee engagement has increased.”
Rajkumar’s departure makes the latest senior executive exit since Gulden assumed the CEO role at the start of 2023. In March, Adidas announced that executives and board members Roland Auschel and Brian Grevy would leave the company.
