American Apparel deals with boycott after layoffs

Los Angeles - After announcing another round of layoffs, American Apparel has had to deal with more issues this week. This Monday, there was a group confirmed to be leading a boycott for the company’s products. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles-based retailer, this only means there are more problems for their turnaround plan.

The boycott came directly as a response to the layoffs that were announced recently. Current chief executive officer Paula Schneider had issued a memo to employees announcing that there would be cuts. The reason for the cuts were to improve efficiency for the company with production, shipping, and other areas of the company overall. The cuts would implement a new production workforce that is more evenly split between employees that make basics as well as those who create more complex pieces, according to WWD. As there is more demand coming from the basics side of American Apparel, more of the complex pieces “may be outsourced.”

Although crucial to the company’s turnaround plan, reactions to the layoffs were not entirely positive among workers. The decision for layoffs means that many American Apparel workers will be losing their jobs. As reported by WWD, last week’s cuts totaled approximately over 500 workers across Southern California locations. Although this means the company could be revamping its business, unfortunately it may call for more boycotts and issues in the future.