Burton cuts North American staff, reinstates salaries

Press Release:

BURLINGTON, Vt. (February 11, 2010) - Burton today announced that it has restructured its North American staff, resulting in a layoff of less than 2% of its global employee base. The company also announced that it reinstated salaries and merit increases that were decreased eight months ago due to the economic downturn.

"Burton continues to lead the industry, which is in better shape than it was one year ago," says Burton CEO Laurent Potdevin. "Layoffs are always difficult, but in today's changing marketplace, some restructuring was necessary to maintain our investments in product development and marketing."

After staff reductions, Burton employs over 600 people in North America, with its total global headcount topping 950.

"This hasn't been easy for anyone," says Jake Burton Carpenter, Founder and Chairman of Burton. "It's still a very challenging marketplace, but with the best product, team and marketing in the industry, we will get through this stronger than ever. The reinstatement of salaries and merit increases has been a priority, and fortunately, with our improvement in performance we are able to accomplish that."

Burton is the world's leading snowboard company and owns other top boardsports brands, including Channel Islands Surfboards, DNA Distribution (Alien Workshop and Habitat Skateboards), Analog, Gravis, ANON and R.E.D.