I got laid off after 5 years and I’m really struggling to cope. I stupidly thought I was going to retire there. I was doing well, working hard and being told all the right things. I know I can find another job bht in so scared of it not being as good. I’m freaked out by the change and shattered at the unfairness of it. I guess I’m just looking for some words of reason.
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There is life outside the Berm. Nike has shown you what it really is. Try to see that as a valuable life lesson. Once you get a new job and perspective, you will see what Nike really is. It will all be ok.
I left Nike in 2011 after 6 years and am much happier for it.
I was cut during the 2017 layoff. I worked hard, lots of hours, thought I was doing all the right things, got positive feedback but was laid off after 10 years with Nike. I summed it up to not working well with a couple of my male (Sr. Director) counterparts.
I'd found a new job within a month of being laid off, with a company that respects hard work and integrity. I'm very happy with the company, benefits and pay.
There is a much brighter light for you out there.
Don't fret! I am a former Nike employee myself. That short four letter word on your resume will open lots of doors and start many conversations. Use it to your advantage and do not sell yourself short. There are better orgs and more fulfilling work out there. The only things that I miss about Nike are the perks like gyms, food options, the extremely nice campus, etc. which, in a Faustian way, are how they justify compensating you with a middling salary and convincing you that Nike is THE BEST PLACE ever.
The spell is now broken. If you can accept working in a more generic office in a non-descript building and resign yourself to walking a few blocks to find coffee, then you will be fine and you will very likely see your career flourish.
Does anyone know a support group or want to start one to help people like OP cope with this kind of layoff aftershock a little easier?
I myself went through such a painful time when I was wrongfully fired in retaliation against speaking up on a management's violation of a labor law(spoke up to help alert the company about what actually happening in reality when all those sweet initiatives about Doing the Right Thing were announced). For about 3 months, I was mentally paralyzed due to the shock from Nike's brutal witchhunting.
I am the original poster here and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to offer me their words and thoughts. Currently I am trying to take it day by day and let myself feel this but try not to focus too far into the future. I think that’s usually where the problems are. I know a lot of people must be feeling like this right now, and worse, so I thank you all for answering my post. I think I was very naïve to think this didn’t happen to people who were truly good at their job and didn’t piss anyone off. It’s about alliances there and if you weren’t in with the right vp at this moment in time you were screwed. And if they were actually paying you well for your talents you were double screwed. I think the first weeks I tried to get angry and feel like I was “better off” but then the reality set in that I didn’t want to leave. I was happy there mostly. I enjoyed my work, I loved my team, and I liked my life. I had plenty of frustrations. Political nonsense. People with no talent coming over the top because they were friends with the mo–n at the top. Etc etc. but I was still happy. I could for the most part shrug it off. So now I just feel sad. And a bit angry that I have to uproot my life and go through this. I did get a therapist. She said it’s grieving and that it’s normal. So I’m trying to just be and see where that gets me.
If you can, try to start seeing a therapist that works with trauma and PTSD. There are many in the Portland metro area who are very familiar with Nike. It sounds like your experience (as was mine) triggered a lot of negative patterns. It's going to take a while to come to terms with the fact that you let Nike control your life that much, and that now there's no more Nike. Your first non-Nike job will probably feel a bit weird, but you'll eventually realize you're in a better place when all of that "noise" isn't there anymore. You might even feel more like a human being.
First, I’m so sorry to hear about your circumstance and feeling this way afterwards. Please remember that in the end, it’s just a JOB, and it can ultimately be replaced in your life. Likewise, change is the one constant in life, so engage these feelings but realize they are only temporary. You will get through this, mate! Things like family, friends, and experiences - that’s what life is about, not selling shoes. The reality of corporate life nowadays is we are all numbers on a spreadsheet, loyalty be damned, replaceable by decisions made by the few. Be loyal to yourself and your loved ones and seek the happiness you deserve, when you allow the personal bruising of this change to heal, because it will. Promise.
Sorry for your pain. Layoffs hurt. Time will heal. And for anyone else reading this, NO ONE RETIRES AT NIKE.
There will always be a younger, smarter, more amazing candidate than you, in Nike’s eyes. And every few years they purge employees and go try to find their little unicorn new employees.
Of course most of the new employees aren’t as effective, nor will they ever be, then the employees let go. So the work product goes down, the culture hollow, and paranoia creeps in, as does devious back stabbing behavior across departments.
It’s all so predictable at this point.
Employees aren’t assets here. And as soon as you get a gray hair the clock of your departure starts ticking. Just look around.
Dear @OP, I completely understand how you are feeling. It’s hard to not let a layoff impact your self-esteem and self worth. Don’t wallow too long in sadness. You know your worth. You will bounce back. Hang in there.
Don’t take the layoff personally or as a measure of your self worth. Layoffs are about saving money. Plenty of good people get hit being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s about hitting a cost target often. That being you can get another job and do well. I’ve seen plenty of good people let go at other companies. Many went onto great career success. In corporate America we are really just fancy ETWs. Yeah it s—s. Go claim unemployment, take a break and then find another gig. You will do great.
Take this as a blessing. Five years is a great tenure at a company. I'm surprised (and intrigued) at how many people spend decades at Nike only to go through a re-org or let go. Nike has its perks and I can see why people stay for a while, but it's doing you no good. Get out, interview, and take your learnings and brand name on the resume to k–l it in the next position. Good luck!
Nike is not the be all and end all. There are many other amazing organizations out there, many of them better than Nike (though we don't like to think about that as Nike employees). Don't let a company or a brand define you. You define you. And if you're a hard worker as you say, you'll land a new role in time. It'll s— for a while - it's a grieving process - but there's definitely a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.
OP, you did not do anything wrong. Your value as a person and as a professional does not diminish because your job at Nike is gone. Your feelings though are understandable and they are normal part of the "healing process." You will be better off soon and you will be happier. Hang in there...better things are coming for you.
Hang in there! The world is huge and there are so many options. Nike has this cultish way of s—ing people in and making them feel like Nike is EVERYTHING. As others have mentioned on this site, you will find that your Nike experience really helps your search and you will most likely be MUCH HAPPIER at another company. Nike is a sickness. The fact that you feel this way is a sign of their trap. Nike is just a company and a job is just a job. Good luck in your search and go forward with confidence!!!!