Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

Shake up the senior leadership team with some new blood. Same leaders, same results.

Great list so far. Now we know the exact opposite of things this leadership team will do.

1. Deep cuts across all BU’s product lines (Footwear / Apparel / Accessories)
2. Line plan into the seasons as SUFA and HOSP
3. If and when Reorgs are need be intentional and cut out the cancer of leaders and IC’s who make this place toxic
4. Invest in the talent workforce create stability so we can get in a rhythm and focus on planning, creating, selling, marketing and landing product in the marketplace.

I've been currently associated with SCPT org from the past 5 years - I can tell you how it is functioning and I don't know if the similar thing is happening in other orgs or not - firstly org is rotted with iykyk with people reporting to people that has connections all the way to VP - lamea* teams with 10-15ish people per team that - you think they are building some next generation tech that Nike needs pretty badly - nope....all they do is supporting the bs applications they have implemented that contains tons of tech debt, some people inside the team forms an alliance and they will create unnecessary work tickets - those tickets are to monitor the existing systems that are already automated - it's the biggest irony and defeated the whole purpose in the first place, and inside teams they form a pact to work on one single lamea ticket by multiple people....it's a no brainer for a first grader that the cheese is getting burned on useless etw's and converted fte's from etw's.....spot these kind of teams and clear the house

Only one manager of managers (CEO), everyone else has direct business related responsibilities, including all tech and all support functions. If disconnected from making products and $$$ and being profitable, then create never ending bureaucracy

@h0 This 100%

@h0 I also need to add… you might need to search them out and hire them back, because many of the best people leaders were let go in layoffs over recent years.

Look for feedback on people leaders from deep into the org to decide who gets elevated to lead bigger teams. Relying on only VP input is resulting in poor choices. The original Nike Maxims noted personal ambition as a danger, but you’ve got a leadership team loaded with folks who are driven by personal ambition and ego above all. Look for the people who are driven by service to the team and promote them.

@an bro tech at Nike blows. This might a case to burn it all down and start from scratch. The cult of of employment has to go

@b7 agree on some points, but you don't have good talent in your backyard. Portland is sh-t for tech talent, just get anyone good and let them work remote.

For operations and tech - ACCOUNTABILITY!!!! Pay-to-play 100% … most importantly pay for your mistakes. Let sales do whatever they want, but they pay for it. If a coding/design error, charge the impacts to the tech team. If manually touching orders and cause chargebacks, take that $ out of the account team. If DC doesn’t pick-pack-ship accurately, they pay all the claims and resource costs chasing it. SEC … complete sh-t-show, data being dropped all over the place, functionality dropped, etc … teams dropping data pay all the associated costs. Things clean up real quick when there is accountability. Lastly - support org - not needed if was any ownership & accountability. Tickets would drop to near zero if teams simply owned the sh-t they produce or do

I’d say just go all in on the AI narrative, say we don’t need people anymore. The world is going to run off autonomous computers. We’ve seen great things from having fake sales, designers, supply chain and HR people.

Announce 80% layoff of workers and have all the EVPs to write prompts. Everyone else left will be either maintenance crews for the fields, or nepotism hires for EVPs new grads.

Stop wasting our time with the annual mandatory trainings.

Everyone in a position of power is milking the company despite the forced boyscout promise. The rest of us IC aren’t even in a position to be offered a $20 lunch from an external party.

The DEI courses are filled with socially problematic examples if you really pay attention and the people that most need the course are self-aggrandizing walking victimhoods that will never self reflect.

Bunch of going through the motions without a single care for the end result. Just like everything else we do.

1. Simplify our products and stick to what sells.
2. Stick to sports and no fuzzy shoes or pants.
3. Get sizing right. Nike products are extremely hard to trust to buy online. Hence simple.
4. Stop replacing roles as people leave and there would be no need for layoffs. They cause stress and unwillingness to grow
5. If there’s truly a need for a layoff and reorg, let people volunteer and then let manager decide. The high level cherry picking isn’t working.

Too many employees = too many made up jobs = too much made up and unnecessary work to justify your value = backstabbing and politics follow

Cut 1/3 of the people, focus only on what matters.

Glad to see so many with similar views on the layoff forum - ironic but obvious

@ba

we need to go from 4 seasons to 2 like other retailers. There absolutely is no reason to insist on this as there is minimal distinction between sprint and summer and fall and winter.

more seasonless and streamlined

cut the number of SKUs by half, no need to have 20 shoes in lifestyle competing in the same pricepoint because of stupid silos

I think people agree we need layoffs. Where people are pi---d and annoyed is the slow bleed of them. Like a large reduction would be brutal.. but if they could do it to get the company to the right headcount they would have a better chance of rebuilding morale then allowing the thought of layoffs to continue to linger.

Unfortunately, I also don’t see a world where layoffs aren’t a part of it except if maybe we split into separate autonomous brands within the company. But as is the answer I think lies somewhere in the following…. 1. Reduce layers of leadership/middle management. In most functions there are now as many or more levels of leadership as there are ICs and the disfunction and spin around decision making costs $$$ 2. Condense roles. There are too many functions and they are so siloed and breeding inefficiencies that are ki-ling us. 3. Less skus/longer life cycles. 4. Thoughtful tiering of product where product at different price points connects to the price point above but requires less need to reinvent the wheel.

@b7 raises a good point. We need to stop chasing whatever is trendy with socal ceos.

Microsoft is shedding almost double digit market share. Google’s latest innovation was intentionally making search worse to increase search count & ad revenue. They’re dying even faster than the big M. NFTs are dead dead dead. Blockchain is dying. AI has a kernel of usefulness, but not enough to return the 200 BILLION burned investing in it.

Why are we imitating these id--ts? Our leaders need to start thinking for themselves. Or just think at all…

Sorry to break it to you, but ITC is on track to include 80% of tech employees.

Dump ITC entirely. Replace every 4 people laid off with a single US college graduate. Start running career fairs again, meet people face to face (ignore the flood of AI applicants online). Currently, you can hire top talent at the bottom of our salary ranges. People are desperate in our backyard yet we’re happy to compete with silicone valley for people that cost even more, and work 12 hours offset from our business.

We are so dysfunctional because we get the bottom of the international barrel and our business has to wait AN ENTIRE DAY to hear about whatever IT sc--wed up. Then wait ANOTHER ENTIRE DAY to see if they fixed it (they didn’t).

Fire and sue any executive still pushing for this offshoring lunacy. Use the legal discovery process to peal back their family’s personal finances. Redistribute all the found money into innovation or stock buybacks.

We already have egg & 💩 on our faces. Wallstreet treats us like a penny stock because we have no spine. Bite down hard, be-doverget back to running an effective business instead of a slt daycare.

@a6 Right

Dramatically reduce head count so that contributors and empowered. Too many people at Nike are making a career out of networking, with no external skills.
The layers of management for every function are unlike any other company.

@a9 we are staffed for a $90b company and not even $50b anymore. That’s the issue and need for layoffs.

Layoffs are necessary because Nike is staffed for $50b+ and sales have come significantly below that the last 2-3 years. We are caught in a viscous cycle of sales falling, which requires cutting SG&A (ie layoffs), which destroys culture or motivation further reducing employee productivity. Nike is still trading at PE ratio higher than our peers and even the broader consumer goods landscape. One of the reasons is the SG&A control (ie. reduction) we have shown with the sales slowdown.
We will need to hit sustained growing sales for at least 2 years in a row for the layoffs to stop. Until then, buckle down and focus on your own controllables.

Is the layoffs email coming out today?

Prioritize hiring and promoting talent within the U.S. and reduce reliance on layoffs. Invest in leadership development to foster a culture rooted in empathy, equality, and accountability with zero tolerance for toxicity and discrimination. Strong culture drives innovation and better products.
Strengthen brand presence by expanding distribution and modernizing assortments across all channels. Increase visibility in department stores like Macy’s, elevate product freshness in retail locations, expand international merchandise offerings, grow direct-to-consumer and online sales, and pursue broader retail footprint opportunities. Just expand, be bolder, faster, and deliver fresher, higher-impact products across every market.

@a3 you think employees really care about the work if they are are worried they might lose their job every 6 months?

@a4. Yes, it's me. You have my permission to ignore bureaucracy.

@a3

…is it EH? :)

@a2 So, you'd do the same as EH, except no layoffs because reasons.

1. Emphasize brand storytelling stop leading so much marketing with a product focus

2. Get DTC vs Wholesale balance corrected

3. Simplify products too many skus, colorways, colorways collabs

4. Shift from lifestyle and build credibility into performance of product

5. Stop with layoffs, eat the cost, stock price is falling anyway, and build some stability in the company to get people to buy in.