Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

It's time for changes at the top

If you believe the press reports about Foot Locker, Finish Line, and other retailers falling short on their numbers, each of them mention Nike's lack of a true (or new) innovation pipeline. As a shareholder & employee I ask, where is the accountability at the senior level for this? Why has nothing been done to remove people like Trevor or Jayme? Those two, along with their lieutenants should be replaced. They all talk a good game but when it comes down to it, they are the ones who are tasked with making the decisions related to brand and product. One, or both, of them should be let go.

Nike is too focused on sneakerhead, small drop, collaborations and has lost the focus on the consumer. Instead, we have let the Energy team go too far, thinking that these so called "cool" drops would save their business. It's time to wake up and realize that the 200 sneaker influencers you love so much don't actually make a real difference in the marketplace anymore. It's an old model. The world has moved on and the Consuner expects and wants to be listened to. The Maxim "the consumer decides" has become a joke. We talk about it like we mean it, but what we really mean is "we decide but we say the consuner does". It's time to get back to focusing less on ourselves and more on the athlete.

Arrogant leaders who put themselves above all others, like Edwards, are what is killing our great brand. He talks a great game but he's not our leader of the future. He's not even the right leader now. He's too arrogant.

What happened to our focus on innovating for the athlete? Right now, we are focused on new color ways and materials for old retro products sold in 300 square foot sneakerhead shops. We have lost our focus.

"There is no finish line"

Newsflash - there is a "Finish Line" and their business is suffering because we aren't focused on making great products for them to sell.

We are laying off the wrong people.

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Post ID: @OP+P2EasAL

12 replies (most recent on top)

Can't say that I'm terribly surprised, based off of how Nike treated all of the contracted employees. (Both direct contractors and contracted companies providing services)

Half of the folks I used to work with are now doing the same job over at Adidas for better pay and much better management!

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Post ID: @3htdw+P2EasAL

The top will never change. The board is controlled by the top.

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Post ID: @1zpr+P2EasAL

I still have hope in Nike, even though times are tough, mistakes are being made, and there are some arrogant people in the Company. Parker is a good man who always tries to do the right thing. I don't think he is the problem.

Removing the arrogance from the organization, a relentless re-focus on the athlete, a renewed focus on today's consumer, and reigniting the innovation pipeline, while also getting back to basics, is the way out of this mess we're in. The first step is admitting there is an arrogance problem in the house.....get rid of that (meaning the people at senior levels responsible for the attitude) and we make the first step in the right direction.

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Post ID: @amt+P2EasAL

It is shameful that so many families have to be impacted by the lack of vision and creativity of a roomful of self-promoting hypocritical executives.

99 percent of those laid off gave decades of their of their professional lives to NIKE because they believed in Phil and the company he built.

Senior Directors took the brunt of the layoffs. But in most cases it's not been senior directors who crafted the company's strategies they're now trying to whitewash with "fiscal prudence."

It makes me wish Phil's sons had taken a more substantial role in the company.

I think both the late Matt Knight and Travis Knight had enough of Phil's unique blend of vision and hustle to guarantee the company's future.

The "boys" who inherited Phil's company are a bunch of highly paid Princes, living like Kings while protecting their tiny little kingdoms .

Meantime, Adidas and practically everybody else in the space continues to take share and the consumer's attention.

NIKE's most loyal industry analysts have now turned their back on the company as innovation and has all but disappeared.

Mark Parker's $50 billion goal is an arrogant false target that needlessly shattered hundreds of people's lives all because the current leadership consistently fails to lead.

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Post ID: @bdr+P2EasAL

This thread hits the nail on the head....the talent was terminated.

Good luck with that crew still in charge.

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Post ID: @red+P2EasAL

Sorry about the misspelling of "consumer". I guess it's not a surprise I misspelled it since we don't focus on them right now. 😐

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Post ID: @wvn+P2EasAL

Agree with all being said here. Have witnessed first hand how these leaders protect their chosen few. Know first hand of a biz leader who was responsible for the loss of millions in revenue dollars because he was too arrogant to listen to sound advice from others about a product. He had it made anyway, but for various reasons he was unable to take it to market. Others had to clean up his mess - leadership let them do it because they had no clue how to fix the mess. At the project tear down he blamed everyone else for the problem...never acknowledged he made bad decisions. This arrongant but really incompetent leader was then...wait for it...promoted. Has been promoted at least two more times since the disaster. Unfortunately have seen this happen soooooo many times at Nike....this is just one example. He's still employed by Nike...many who had to fix the mess are not.

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Post ID: @ugl+P2EasAL

Bingo on the $50B goal. Everyone I know has always thought that was ridiculous and only led to poor decisions for the long-term that helped "make the quarter" in time for earnings release. However, now we're in the "long-term" and there are few smoke and mirrors left.

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Post ID: @cvg+P2EasAL

Everything started going downhill when Don Blair left....

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Post ID: @wpx+P2EasAL

They are laying off the knowledge that built the brand with years of experience of what works and what doesn't. Where is the sense in that strategy?

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Post ID: @tyw+P2EasAL

There is truth to this. We need to call out the leaders responsibile. Trevor is the driving force for the failed category offense, Jayme took over and kept a narrow focus, built a poor mgmt culture that protects cyber bullies like DJ van Hameran and Brian Zappitello. They are the ones who came up with this $50B goal with no real plans, and yes put Andy Campion in that camp. All these guys protect each other, and make us suffer for their poor decisions and poor management. There are still so many high paying execs that have no business staying in the company, but yet we laid off so many great 20-30 yr veterans that gave their lives to the company. Phil and his board should do something to hold the decision makers accountable.

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Post ID: @eln+P2EasAL

Nike doesn't change the top. Guys like Eric Sprunk and Craig Zanon are lifers. They can foul up many things and keep on going.

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Post ID: @zcx+P2EasAL

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