Danish toymaker Lego recently surprised its industry watchers when it announced plans to trim its 18,200-strong workforce by about 8% to shed about 1,400 jobs after seeing revenue drop for the first time in 13 years. Lego said revenue fell by 5% to Danish krone 14.9 billion (US$2.4 billion) in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year as sales weakened in mature markets such as the U.S. and parts of Europe. The drop is a shock for the toymaker, whose annual revenue nearly quintupled between 2007 and 2016 to DKK 37.9 billion (US$6 billion). But the warning signs were clear when revenue growth slowed from 25% in 2015 to 6% in 2016.
