And it's only been two years. I was so hyped for this job, and that turned into disappointment within the first couple of months. I can't understand how people who've been here for a decade and more do it. What gives you the motivation to stay? I'm honestly curious.
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Everyone’s comments about staying 10 to 15 years.. well not anymore. You’ll be lucky to stay around at all at the rate we’re going. The fact that we have layoffs so often and old timers get cut so frequently is saddening. Like what the actual F. So much for retiring here, kiss that dream goodbye.
Then quit?
Just remember, you work for bros. Bottom line. I was at the company 2009-2012, and it was worse. Several people I worked (and unfortunately had to travel with) were part of the 2018 "me too" and got yeeted with that.
Definitely ask yourself what you are here for? Pay is pretty good, and being on the West Coast is mellow.
I now come and go as a contractor, and I'm just there for the money, and the people watching. (Current amusement is staring at bad lip filler in meetings)
Good luck to you! Leaving only got me more money at the new company, and coming back got me even more.
I’d love to go back in time to the old Nike but I’m an adult and realize that’s a fantasy. Just like dreaming that I’d magically find an equivalent or better workplace if I jumped ship.
Even with a perfect interview it’s impossible to know what a company is truly like until you’ve worked there a few months.
Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.
Here, I know how to manage my manager. Even my skip if needed. I know which departments to avoid, which get the best treatment, and which have the lowest expectations.
Long timer here. Why do I stay? If I’m being completely honest:
- Inertia. While I’m increasingly unhappy here I don’t want to put in the effort to maybe get a “better” job.
- I’m comfortable. I mostly keep my head down. The people who need to know me do, and the opposite.
- The pay and benefits are good. Would I make more money somewhere else? Maybe. Maybe not. Even if I did is it worth the hassle of starting over somewhere else with everything that entails? Not for me. I don’t want to expend that much effort.
- I remind myself that even with Nike’s troubles, if I left tomorrow 200 other people would give their left kidney to have my job.
- I have it relatively easy here. My wife works somewhere else and gets in trouble if she’s 10 minutes late to work or adds an extra 10 minutes to her lunch break. That type of petty, micromanaging behavior is more common at at lot of other companies than we sometimes remember. It’s easy to take for granted that Nike is mostly not like that.
My response might be pathetic but it is the truth.
I hang around here because I generally like the people I work with, enjoy the work I do and most of the time the creative freedoms I get.
Things I typically don’t like, the senior LT, people in some of the brand departments, and general koolaid drinkers.
Sure there has been fun times with the cultures but just like anything, things change. If you like the people you work with, that’s really hard to find.
Long timers will remember Nike Profit Sharing Plan combined with stock performance that only went up and then the shares would split.
Buying a home in early 2000s that is 15 minutes to work. A gym that we paid $40/month to use and the Bo and Lance were great.
Everybody getting to work in time to grab coffee together at NR or MH.
Employees that weren’t all from ivy’s or elite schools but learned the craft of Nikes process and were dependable.
The barrier to entry to black badge was lower but the commitment to make it a career was stronger. Now people are more likely to job hop around and out of the company, which can add to envy and doubt about career paths.
Tech support was onsite and would come to your desk.
Employees just gave a d@mn about doing their best work. Do they now?
That and so many other small things that are now dismissed as “old timer” ways of working. Sorry, but I enjoyed it more than I do currently. The “equity” of every single decision can be draining to experience and consider, even when I know it is better for everyone in the long run.
It’s always been like this, at least for past 15 years incrementally getting worse. It’s in trend to blame current leadership and forget about past leadership and their decisions. Nike employees have short memory just like society
I have the same regret. Should have stayed at prior company
It was better before covid wfh I will say. It's a big org where you can hide. Trends and soundbites get unearned momentum as well. JD's tenure made this worse.
The magic that's been lost is forgetting that we're a marketing and manufacturing company in that order. We're not a technology company and the next board and CEO better understand that if they want to fix things.
My director once told me his goal was to “stay off the radar”. That is not the type of thing you want to hear from a leader over seeing a team that is bringing innovation to the company.
Nike is not the place for driven, motivated people. It’s for slackers and party planners. This has always been true. The difference is that now some of the perks are going away and even the slackers are disappointed.
I got here to see the end of the Parker era and it still felt hopeful. The people here just acted different than in other organizations. It was nicer, more collaborative. Now, post-Covid the people seem to have forgotten what that was like. It seems like ancient history, now. That's ok. Things change. I don't like what we have now and I am also running out of reasons to stay. If the job market were any better, a willing separation from the company would be the best move.
Because you've only experienced JD's Nike. Those of us who have been around since before JD know what Nike can be. That piece of sh-t has single-handedly drove a once-great brand into the ground.
He'll be gone soon. Then you'll understand why people stay.
Welcome to the JD Megachurch
I can definitely answer this one. I also came to Nike just a few years ago and what seemed to be my dream Jon quickly turned into frustration. I too was looking into the secret of why some stays for 10-15 years? Here is the answer I found: It is a great place to be a slacker! Nike is not a career it is a paycheck... At the end of the day, I could have a more satisfying job at any other corporate who also can cut me overnight during a layoff. Why not working in a place that I can collect the same paycheck for 10% of the effort? I also rather not love my job so it only stays a job and won't become my identity. This is the reasoning I found for myself.