Quiksilver Lays Off 5 of Its Managers : Cutbacks: The surf wear maker said last month that it would be paring its work force to stay profitable. Middle- and upper-level staff are targeted.

Quiksilver Inc., the major maker of surf wear, has laid off five middle- and upper-level managers as part of an overall cost-cutting, Chairman Robert B. McKnight Jr. said Tuesday.

Those laid off Monday were Steve Tully, national sales manager; Andrea Barkley, head of the T-shirt division; Bruce Barber, head of the Pirate Surf division; Carole Orem, the company’s assistant controller; and Debbie Fay, head of customer service.

Some of the managers were relatively new to Quiksilver, a person familiar with the company said. Others performed tasks that could be taken over by peers or superiors. Tully, for instance, was one of two national sales managers. He specialized in department store sales, an area in which the company has seen its revenue dampened by the recession. His counterpart concentrates on surf shops.

“We’re cutting expenses like everyone else in America,” McKnight said. He described the five ex-managers as “good, loyal, hard-working people.”

The company said last month in commenting on its latest financial report that it would be paring its work force to stay profitable. “We want to restructure the company to go forward in the leaner and meaner ‘90s,” Randall L. Harrell, the company’s chief financial officer, said at the time.

Quiksilver posted a profit of $1.5 million for its latest fiscal quarter, which ended April 30. That was a decline of 55% from earnings for the same period a year earlier. Sales slipped 19% to $28.9 million.

McKnight said Tuesday that Quiksilver is “doing very well. We are still No. 1, 2 or 3 in every California-lifestyle store in America.” He said the company’s divisions, including its denim for juniors and so-called hard-core apparel intended for the most devoted surfers, are doing well.

“We have downsized according to the environment,” McKnight said.