Has anybody noticed the mass exodus of most experienced employees from Nike? Seems to me that if we are losing some of our best people not to layoffs but to attrition, there's something seriously wrong with the way this company is run currently.
I just hope leadership realizes what it is before it's too late.
I am so sorry you were targeted after a disagreement with your manager. I would like to tell you that there is nothing you could do to escape the situation. It will get better. It is a toxic environment that does not reward integrity or ethics. HR is not your friend. They only enable the bad culture to save their own jobs.
I was laid off after disagreement with a manager. Targeted for being older and firm in the belief that the right thing would happen and I was absolutely blindsided. Completely agree with the sentiment that employees are disposable, HR Is only going through the motion and management is there to protect and promote themselves only.
Every few years Nike goes through a process it calls up-leveling. Typically what it means is that Nike will look for young talent from Ivy League type schools, and then lay-off an existing employee. They state that the role has changed but it didn’t. This is a tool to weed out tenured employees that are expensive and old for younger new hires that are cheaper and determined to have more “upside”. It is very rare that the new employee has the productivity of the old one.
It’s ageism plain and simple. Such a waste and it is killing the culture. If you are over 45, you have less than 10 years left and more likely 5.
Why are the most experienced employees leaving in droves? Simple, get out before you are pushed out.16
Many leaving saying they are retiring but truly going to work for another company.
When I joined Nike a few years ago, my HR lead told me Nike was hiring outsiders into HR to make it more professional - like it should be for a $30B + company. Hasn’t happened, and don’t see it happening any time soon.
People leave bad bosses.
It happens across the board. The simple answer is: 'They' dont care. The company in theory does (see the many - yet- ineffective people management tools and decisions) but the managers of those leaving dont care. They are or new and completely focussed on their own careers and egos or long timers and avoiding taking risks on anybody in terms of going against the opinion of the HR facilitated meeting on a particular individual. Nike is not a thing; it is a bunch of people that make it and the incentives for success are not set to reward the right thing in terms of managing people.
I thought it was just my department. Over confidence will probably always blind them and will only find out after it is too late.