Employees have clearly proven we can be productive while working remotely. With more and more companies accepting remote work as the “new normal,” why is Nike reverting back to its old ways of asking people to uproot their families and lives to relocate across the country?
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Without the Nike magic (Brand, campus, product, gym) to win employees over with it will all fall apart.
The construction at WHQ is nearly complete and there will be plenty of desks available. Those are very expensive desks and the powers that be want keisters in those chairs to justify the expenditures. I am not surprised that the company is reducing its real estate costs by closing satellite offices and consolidating most positions in Beaverton. If WFH proved that you could be productive outside of the office, it also proved that you could be productive from WHQ. Plane tickets and hotel rooms are cheaper than Class A office space in NYC, Pittsburgh, etc.
Don't forget that digital first is happening and that will profoundly shake up the way Nike does business. Over time, less reliance on retailers means less face time is needed with those retail partners. Again, it's cheaper in the long run to send a jet / buy first class tickets to bring those very important buyers to Beaverton for wining, dining, and meetings than to maintain a collection of flashy showrooms and offices locally.
@1wqy...sh–. That wasn't clear in the original post. That is indeed terrible....
YES there are people who already work for Nike and are were given new roles they did NOT apply for. I’m one of them.
I essentially live just a few blocks from the NYC office and yet the only way I can keep a job in Nike is by moving across the country. This means choosing my career over my husband’s. Why can’t I just continue working from the NYC office if I can conveniently do so without relocating?
Is Nike forcing existing employees to relocate?
I’m so confused why someone is bent out of shape that a company is expecting people to live locally to the office where they are being offered a job. The vast majority of companies expect this. Yes, people are being productive remotely, and many companies will continue to allow remote working to some extent—but there’s a huge difference in being local but working from home, and living on the other side of the country and being completely remote.
I’m not sure why you thinking whining about being expected to relocate for a job you applied for and apparently were offered is a good idea on a board where people are scared because they are losing their jobs.
@oji, wow...that was a whole a lot of nothing. You may want to grow up yourself, a–hole
I've been lurking around here for sometime as I am ex-employee and I still have a lot of friend working here. Moreover, Nike is one of the biggest employers here in Portland metro area and I'm curious what is happening there. It amazes me how people get all worked up and down vote comments that urge them to take ownership of their career, sanity and life. Many of these people sadly placed their identity with this company! Some of you act like a frog stuck inside a well never seen the outside world. There is a whole world out there that might give you better opportunity and growth many of you are craving for. There are jobs out there that reward you better for your hard work.
Now the issue at hand; the last time I checked, this is a free country. Nobody is forcing you to take any job that you don't like. Nobody is threatening you with any kind of consequences if you reject the offer. The company has a policy; that is for you to relocate if you accept the job. If you don't like it, you are free to move on. Nike, for that matter nobody, cry over just because you didn't take the job. Grow up. Do what is best for your family and your career.
Let the down vote pour in..
Um...No. Not all employees are based at WHQ! Nike has several small corporate offices that service large retails accounts i.e. Footlocker, New York, NY, Academy, Huston, TX, D–k’s, Pittsburgh, PA, Hibbett, Birmingham, AL just to name a few. The original poster may have been offered a job working on one of those accounts. You obviously don’t work at Nike or you’d know that very minor detail. Now get off this job board!
What are you talking about? If you already work for Nike, you're likely already in WHQ. If not, no one is forcing you to join Nike. Even though remote work is gaining popularity, 99% of jobs in the country expect you to work in the office eventually.