Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

Regarding the remaining S Band employees a few comments; it seems the pattern continues: 1. Promote Directors to Snr D or SD to VP who haven't done much in years that take credit for the hard work the staff does, 2. Continue to promote and or keep friends of VPs, 3. Promote a lot of born and bred Oregonians, or Ducks, Beavs, 4. Promoting folks in the 30-45 year old bracket (forget about others that may be more deserving, or older folks ), and 5. Promoting a lot of White people. So nothing will change. The same long time sh-t show will run the new show.

I have worked at two Fortune 500 companies and a Fortune 1000 company. Nike, by far, was the absolute worst experience of my life. Hard work and loyalty go nowhere at Nike. The best skill you could have by joining the Nike "team" is the ability to play the political game and manage up.

The company I worked for before Nike and the company I worked for after Nike were both very competitive industries BUT recognized hard work towards a common goal, the vision, and rewarded appropriately.

Yes, they are all corporate companies controlled by the stock price, but there are definitely companies out there that treat their people much better than Nike does.

I still own Nike stock so I hope this JD crew of executives can turn this p–p show around by,
1) reducing the bloat, e.g., middle management, so proper decisions can be made,
2) actually streamlining processes and building efficiencies, not just saying but really doing it,
3) reward people for innovation (true innovation), hard work and loyalty. When I say loyalty, I mean loyalty to the company and not some Sr. Director or VP who promises a promotion to make him/her look good. This is about the company and not the individual.

Nike started off with a great story of innovation and perseverance and a lot of people have muddied that story, mostly from the MP era, as he allowed these fool hearty upper managers to have their way by making poor decisions. I just hope the company can get back to some semblance of what it was or at least improve on what it has been for the last 10 years.

Fingers crossed.

This is real life. The board of directors issued orders, Wall Street chimed in, and JD is executing those orders. This isn't personal, it is business. Despite all the cool perks, the multiple gyms and athletic facilities, the casual dress code, and the overall vibe, NIKE is just a publicly traded corporation and it behaves accordingly. No news articles are going to change minds or reverse decisions. Look at what NIKE stock is doing. That validates the course of action being taken.

No matter what happens, do not fall into the trap of feeling sorry for yourself nor seeing any layoffs as personal in nature. I am a former NIKE employee from years ago. I left on my own terms and went to another footwear company. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was let go. My work was stellar and I was given awards for it. I was well respected within the larger organization for innovation and process improvement. My "CFE" ratings were always very high. Sadly, when retailers started closing, canceling futures, and the firm's cash flows were reduced to a weak trickle, the decision to show the door to 25% of the company payroll was made and my position was included in that cut. At the end of the day, no matter how cool or good that you think your are, you are just a line item on a budget spreadsheet. If trimming your line item helps management make a number, then you get trimmed. That's accounting and not an indictment of you or your work.

It s—s. It hurts. It induces a lot of feelings of anger, self doubt, and despair. The job market is not great right now and it might dip again if we don't get this disease under control. But, you should not let this define your worth. You should not live in constant fear nor compromise your ethics in the hope that next level brown nosing will save you. Show up, do good work, and be true to yourself. Things will work out in the long term and you have to proactively create your own luck. There is life beyond the berm. It may not have cutting edge architecture and onsite coffee shops/pubs (which you haven't seen in months with WFH) but, you can create value and a meaningful career elsewhere. In fact, you can very easily go from insignificant cog ("We get 50,000 unsolicited resumes a year...") to full on rock star somewhere else.

Stay positive. Believe in yourself. NIKE is not the "be all, end all" that they have conditioned you to think it is.

@1spf+ You are absolutely right. The world can't get better unless we speak up and demand to be heard. We are at Nike to do excellent work and get paid. We did not sign up for the mental abuse of living in a looming layoff for months, not because of Covid or company finances, because "You asked for it." - John Donahoe

People, I do urge you to speak up if you feel strongly about your beliefs.

Lastly, just want to echo @1spf's post:

"Despite doing all the right things, my job is in no way safe- hopefully I'll find out soon if I still have a job. The waiting has been agonizing during everything else that's going on. I think I represent MOST people who work at Nike.

It's OK to be dedicated to your job AND expect better from your employer than this. It's OK to demand changes in operating conditions. If people didn't demand better working conditions, we'd all still be working 24/7 with no benefits in dangerous conditions.

And, for the people mocking us for going to a gossip site for information- OF COURSE we are! We're desperate for any kinds of clues for our future."

Hi, just want to respond to all the people who have been replying to this and other posts, "if you don't like it, leave". Obvi these people are probably trolling, but still want to respond. I LOVE working at Nike, have been a loyal employee for over a decade. I've worked hard and have sacrificed out of love for the brand and dedication to my job. Nike in no way made me rich; despite great reviews, I've only had 2 promotions since starting ago and still don't get those sweet stock options. When I started I took a gamble on Nike- neither Nike or Portland was "cool" or a sought after place to work. Despite doing all the right things, my job is in no way safe- hopefully I'll find out soon if I still have a job. The waiting has been agonizing during everything else that's going on. I think I represent MOST people who work at Nike. People on here are not just disgruntled and bitter employees. We all chose to work here because we liked Nike and most of us are dedicated.

Anyway, my point is, I'm grateful to work here and am not naive enough to think Nike can promise us anything. However, I think the other people complaining are right- this is unnecessarily cruel. Layoffs are a fact of life. Dragging layoffs out for over 4 months is not. I know we/ Nike answers to its stockholders- but guess what? Most of us are stockholders too! Nike also has to answer to its customers- but probably ALL of us are customers as well. I think our customers wouldn't think we're so great if they knew how tough and drawn out the layoff process has been. Customers, more and more, shop based on integrity of brands.

Not to mention dragged out layoffs during such an unprecedented, difficult time, are not a great way to attract/ retain top talent. I'm not sure people will continue to line up to work here if they know you can get laid off despite being a great coworker, a productive employee, who hits all your targets- there seems to be a many great/ competent people being laid off. OR that layoffs happen despite fact we're doing so well financially and our stock price is soaring- times when companies usually reward, not punish, their teams. So, what is the point? What does that tell the future or remaining employees the company values?

If I do keep my job, I'll continue to give it my all and be grateful. But, I still think the company can and should do better than this by their people, especially as they know the difference between right and wrong- their multiple town halls to support employees through covid and social injustice demonstrate they know how to "do the right thing", but in this instance they are not.

So no- it's not as simple as "if you don't like it, leave". It's not either-or. It's OK to be dedicated to your job AND expect better from your employer than this. It's OK to demand changes in operating conditions. If people didn't demand better working conditions, we'd all still be working 24/7 with no benefits in dangerous conditions.

And, for the people mocking us for going to a gossip site for information- OF COURSE we are! We're desperate for any kinds of clues for our future.

Hang in there everyone, wishing the best for you all.

Nothing will change. On paper it is a great company because the stock price is rising, the right people are making a k–ling financially, and there are still lines of people who want to work at Nike. Crying to the press will get you nowhere because the other narrative is the accepted reality.

No one is going to feel sorry for a 20+ year Nike employee who suddenly found themselves out of a job. You mostly likely did very well for yourself.

@1yuk, Ah....what? Can you even think for your ducking self and stop blaming the ducking system for everyone ducking problem you ducking have. Replace the d in ducking with an f, id–ts.

The Oregonian or other paper will at least get the conversation started.

The conversation of taking employee mental health more seriously, now or in the future layoffs. Sure, you can leave Nike today, but it is the corporate America that needs to change. I might be idealistic, but we need baby steps to force big corporations be more human, look after their employees, and tell us the truth.

Life is not just you. We have a right to demand to be treated better, just as Nike, and other big corporations, have a responsibility to employees physical AND mental health at work.

If you are at Nike, unhappy , and may be experiencing the Stockholm syndrome, then you may also be too stupid to do something about it hence the main reason your are stuck and unhappy.

If you are at Nike and unhappy, you may be experiencing the Stockholm syndrome. Can’t leave, don’t want to stay (watch the movie). Trouble is -Nike is not the company or place it’s purported to be. It’s not even a shadow of what it used to be.Do you look the part? Act the part? Sound the part? (insert power points and stage presentations), connected?good at office politics? Step on others for that promotion? If you can do all the above and learn upward mobility especially managing up, then it’s the place for you. If you just want to do your job and go home, think again.....that new guy may be all about $$$ and going digital, does he know anything about great products or how they are delivered? What about corrupt practices through the matrix - sorry for all that are negatively impacted especially with the pandemic and everything else....going on

What is the right thing in this context? What can we possibly tell the author that she has not, in a way, already expressed? Look, I get it; we are all stressed out and rather unhappy about what is going on. Do you really think an article in the Oregonian or other paper will make Nike's executive change their mind, become more human, look after their employees, and tell us the truth? Many other scandals and bad press has circulated over the years regarding Nike and the only thing that happened was an increase in stock price and more revenues. Do what is right for you, sure, whatever that may be. The only thing I can do is work on getting the hell out of Nike as soon as I can.