CHICAGO, 10th July 2020: The 117-year-old American bike company Harley-Davidson announced that it’s eliminating 700 jobs and replacing CFO as part of its rebuild of the company plan.
Chief Financial Officer John Olin, who has been with Harley 17 years, has left the company. His duties are being assumed on an interim basis by Treasurer Darrell Thomas, the company said in a news release.
“Significant changes are necessary and we must move in new directions,” Jochen Zeitz, chairman, president, and CEO said in the press release.
Harley’s new efforts called “Rewire.” in which about 700 positions being eliminated by the end of the year. Harley has 6,000 employees worldwide.
The cuts will affect 500 current employees globally and cost the company $50 million in restructuring costs in 2020, of which $42 million will be incurred in the second quarter, the company said.
In response to weak sales, the Milwaukee-based company has cut production, leading to 140 job cuts last month at its factories in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The latest cuts are in addition to those layoffs, a company spokeswoman said.