I see people bemoaning how much Nike has changed in the past 5/10/however many years and I can't help but laugh. Those who think this company has changed over the years are looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. This place was never a good workplace. It always had toxic work environment, abusive managers, harassment, promotions reserved for the 'chosen few'... The only thing that has changed is that people are actually talking about it now openly. That's it.
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Amen! @doz+17CoAR2Q
b—s—. How long did you work there? Have you been there since the 70’s or 80’s? This used to be a family. When Mark PARKER left, that was the last nail in the coffin.
The original poster of this thread has it COMPLETELY WRONG. Nike was once an AMAZING place to work. There is a reason why there are and were so many 20+, 25+, 30+, 35+ year veterans. In its prime Nike was a meritocracy for the most parts. It was family and it meant something to work for a brand who's beginning was IN SPORT.
It has become nothing more than a stop along the way for the new generation looking to pad their resume. The influx of careerists is what k–led the culture. 2019 was the "last gasp" of a bygone era. The departure of E Hill, TP, Sprunk and others signaled the death of that culture. We all saw it coming but could do nothing to stop it.
It was a wonderland in the 90's and 2000's. 2010-2018 saw the slow degradation of things. 2019-2020 put a dagger in the heart of the company. Nobody posting today who didn't live it will never understand.
@fqx thank you for taking time to write that up. This gives people like me hope. I agree that people who no longer find joy with what they do at Nike, and the people they work with or what they believe Nike has now become, need to reexamine their situation, life, and move on.
@fqx As a 20+ year employee as well, I concur with your comments.
OP, as a 20 year employee I have to disagree with you. Yes, there have always been “bad things” going on in various areas of the company. The flavor and degree of those “bad things” depends a great deal on what you do, where you work, and with whom you work.
The reality of working at Nike in 2020 is a lot more nuanced than some people wish to acknowledge. Yes there are some poor managers, less than pleasant business units & departments, and there is always a degree of politics; a fact you’ll find in any company of Nike’s size. There are also some questionable decisions made around a whole host of things. All of that is the bad.
There is also plenty of good to be found. There are still more than a few very smart and capable leaders, there is still some exciting work being done, the company is in-touch with consumers and doing well, and Nike is addressing some issues that have long needed to be addressed. No, everything is not perfect but there are people who are trying very hard to improve many things that need to be improved. It’s all a work in progress.
Working at Nike DID use to feel different. When I started in early 2001 it still felt like a much smaller company where co-workers were almost like family. In many ways Nike has “grown up” since then and in the process some of that “We’re all on the same team” vibe has gone away. I truly do miss that. It seems like a lifetime ago. But at the same time I also realize that Nike needed to “grow up” in order to become the success it largely is today. I don’t mean to sound too sappy but the entire process is sort of like watching your kid - who you once cradled in your arms and sang to - pack up his room to go to college. Kids grow up fast and before you realize it that cute little bundle of baby is all of a sudden an adult. It makes you proud but also a little sad.
That’s how I feel about Nike these days. We’ve lost some of the previous magic but it’s being replaced with new magic all the time. It’s both a painful and joyful experience. There are plenty of days where I think to myself “I wish we could go back to how it was in 2005”. But time marches on.
The one constant at Nike is change. Just like with life in general. Some of that change is good, some isn’t. And with that change some old problems are brought along, some are fixed, some new problems are created, and some new solutions and fixes are discovered. It’s all very dynamic and I think not nearly as static as you see it.
The best way to cope is to make peace with the fact that this place is ever-evolving and that the pace of change can be difficult. To get back to your point, Nike can be a challenging, difficult and frustrating place to work, and it can also be an incredibly rewarding and energizing place to work. And yes it often goes in cycles.
But to say “Nike was never a good place to work” is, in my opinion, a vast over-simplification of what it means to work here. And if you choose to focus only on the more frustrating aspects of working at Nike then, well, that’s all you’ll ever see. In reality there is plenty of good and bad about working at Nike. I don’t personally find it useful to dwell on only the good or bad. And if I ever do find myself exclusively dwelling on the bad that’s when I’ll know it’s time for me to do something else. Honestly, right now I’m happy to simply have a job at a successful company with co-workers I mostly like. If you aren’t experiencing that same feeling of gratitude or it’s not enough to keep you going, or if you believe Nike has intractable problems that will never be fixed, then maybe it’s time for you to start exploring other options?