Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

@aq Yeah, people saying it's for past layoff charges are completely misunderstanding how and why companies report this publically. To put it in simple terms, companies are required to submit material costs like this as soon as they are concrete plans to implement them in the future, usually within the next 2 months. Remember the big layoff with rat, they announced the financials and we ended up waiting a couple of months before they hit. The whole point is for investors to get a heads up at a large expense that Nike is ABOUT to incur, not ones they have already incurred. The filing also said, just like last time, that these costs are "predominately" due to severence agreements, so the only way it would be from the sale of Converse is if they plan to lay everyone off when they do so. We already know SEC program has to be addressed, and that is probably half the headcount of the impacts already. Business starts this month, tech starts in April, as was already communicated. Unless they are running to different layoff campaigns at the same time, that means the rest of the layoffs will likely occur on the same schedule.

The trick is to spend the maximum amount of time learning new skills on the company dime, regardless of how applicable they are to your actual job. That way, even if you are just pushing buttons, you are still able to add a host of skills to your resume when the chopping block arrives

At least in Nike tech the talented people realize they aren’t growing their skills or accomplishing anything of value and leave after ~3 years.

A lot of the people who stick around have drank the kool aid and lack the self reflection to understand they have no actual professional skillset. They end up in this toxic relationship with the company where they confuse their value based on status vs capability. End result is the Nike brat who complained their way into a director role but couldn’t manage a McDonald’s shift.

That manager was an $80K manager and somehow tricked Nike into a $200K director 5

Sorry not what everyone wants to read , but there is no way $300m is for the layoffs in the last 9 months. If the decision was made prior to Feb 28th, they can report to s.e.c. and execute in April or May. Good luck everyone

@ak+1kk238d58 It’s not just a matter of laid off people being unable to find jobs. The harder goal is finding jobs that pay anything even close to what those people were making at Nike.

As much as people complain about pay on this forum, overall and comparatively speaking Nike employees tend to be highly compensated. I’ve frequently seen people claim otherwise, but have you ever noticed that those people claiming to be grossly underpaid aren’t exactly hitting the exit doors en masse? If they could make substantially more money elsewhere and with similar benefits and work culture, they’d be gone yesterday. But again…attrition numbers at Nike do not evidence or hint at a broad-based problem with employees being under-compensated.

To put it bluntly, in my opinion a lot of the people claiming to be underpaid aren’t actually being underpaid. They’re just doing the same type of compensation griping that employees do at pretty much every company and organization. For anyone who doubts this, when was the last time you encountered a person who said “I believe I’m fairly compensated for the work I do”? Would it be safe for me to guess you don’t encounter too many people who say that?

Back on point, yes…the higher up the totem pole you are at Nike, the less likely it is you’ll find comparable pay and benefits at other companies. Directors and above at Nike are generously compensated, and it would be easy (too easy) for those people to assume that jobs with total comp above $200k are easy to find if let go from Nike. But they typically aren’t. Like, at all.

Evidence of this? I know a Director let go in the last Nike layoff round. She eventually landed a job with a base salary of $80K with the potential to double that only IF she hits aggressive (almost impossible, really) sales targets. And she was estatic to land that miserable job because she hadn’t had luck anywhere else. She would give anything to be back in her comfortable Director job at Nike where just showing up everyday guaranteed a steady, high income. I’ve heard of former employees in similar situations who also realized after-the-fact how cushy they had it at Nike. Unfortunately a few of them were also trying to maintain a lifestyle demanding that income; a common trap amongst people who don’t factor a potential layoff - and subsequent inability to find comparable pay elsewhere - into their financial planning.

No one has posted the most relevant passages from Nike’s SEC filing yesterday:

“The company continues to evaluate opportunities and may take additional actions which could lead to additional charges in future quarters…”.

“…Actual charges may differ, perhaps materially, from the estimates provided above.”

In other words Nike is telling us there “may” be additional layoffs in the future and the size & scope of those layoffs could be material. My guess is that - given Nike’s substantial margin problems and the business overall having demand creation problems that are qualitatively different from previous down cycles - there will likely be another round or multiple rounds of significant layoffs.

If true, this doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve said before that Nike is currently staffed for perpetual 8% annual growth. During a time when simply maintaining ANY growth is increasingly a challenge. Nike likely needs to downsize to accommodate the new market and consumer reality. This may mean a few thousand people need to be released.

I don’t have any insider knowledge but I’d be shocked if we DON’T see these layoffs over the next two years.

I got out of Nike years ago because I saw this trend. in the PDX market, nike employees are being beat by new college grads.

Look at the Nike team then moved to Fred Meyer, they blew that place up and now trying to come back to Nike.

@a8 the directors that were laid off before never found comparable jobs because they should have never been directors to begin with and other companies can clearly see that. Nike is now a joke in the job search market. It’s well known that Nike employees are not the same quality as years ago.

What about the $2B write-off due to that failed NFT company

Nike Quietly Dumps NFT Unit RTFKT as Converse Revenue Drops 30%

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nike-quietly-dumps-nft-unit-141630040.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGrQoW85g-Zo2L1vLkEwpfBdnFtnT7zcmILkB-Rn0vx2uOiaiqEiEazBd3F1IusqnheLjwzO2ZaSTLaFRsU-gEEDCwMkG5o9KDjC_zAXgndXm5J7cO0mBzaGq0VUi1JLII-wtvUnGjeXLwU2NCLJg6idemhF9lL_ggzfCvTKOtRh

that $300M charge was for the last 9 months ending Feb 28th, it included the recent converse and distribution center layoffs and any others, can't even remember them all now, but from June 25 it was something, that should include ams too

more on the way, though, expect another 250M - 350M charge, details in the late March earnings I'm sure, but likely will execute prior to that and then again in May, they will likely announce in that call....or they will try to get it all done in March....but the likely hood of anything around here done quickly and swiftly is less then low

I think Europe will be fine, you have great labor laws and Nike is scared of them.

America is a free for fall. I just hope, they say the layoffs are due to AI like other tech companies on the earnings call & reinforce we are a tech company

Hello, I'm from Belgium and I think Europe is going to get hit hard this time. Overhere it's hanging in the air for some time.
Leadership acts like nothing is going to happen, but the employees on the floor know better. For them it's not IF but WHEN....

The 300 millions Charge includes the past layoffs done in January (NIKE) and Converse.
Conclusion: There is no way that the upcoming layoffs will be 1500. Much lower will be expected.

Or it could be from the sale of converse. See Oregon live article today
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2026/03/nike-to-record-300-million-cost-cutting-charge-hints-at-more-company-turmoil.html

The target number of heads has to be much higher than before to balance the business. Would wager 1500-2000. There is no way around it. If product isn’t moving, shedding people is the only lever.

I wonder if this hit only PHK and ATC or also technology centers like EHQ, ITC and PTC.
In GT we have a crazy org tree where VP reports to VP and he reports to another VP. It są crazy.

leadership can be replaced with AI

# save the Trash

If 800 Tech employees are laid off at PHK, that's 20% of Tech in a single wave. Team after team moved to ITC outright.

Leadership isn't safe. The last 3 rounds hit the Director to VP layers hard, and it's not just Nike. It's all around us. Every company under the Sun is cutting middle management. Look up the directors they laid off two or three years ago and you'll be surprised at how many never found a similar role.

the 2024 layoff recognized $400 million to $450 million in pre-tax restructuring charges, and that was 1600 people that laid off, so this round probably around 1100 people will be impacted and most likely tech roles in this order ATC, Bay Area and PHK

Since tech pay is higher than average Nike pay, this round of layoffs might not actually hit the 2020 headcount numbers—especially if they actually had the guts to cut VPs and Directors who pull 2x–4x an IC’s salary.

But let’s be real: leadership is safe. All that "hyper-growth" hiring in ITC felt like a total vanity project. It’s just middle and senior management playing the headcount game to inflate their span of control and make their roles look "essential" to the board.

Good point. plus, the stock is the toilet

The 2020 layoffs cost $200-250 million. If severance remains the same, we're about to experience a roughly similar hit, except the losses will be a ton more focused on Tech.