732 People Lose Their Jobs at Nike, Oregon, as Part of a $2 Billion Cutback on Expenses

Nike has slashed 732 positions at its global headquarters near Beaverton as part of its decision to trim 2% off its global workforce. The leading sportswear brand announced in April that it would be reducing its Oregon workforce by 740 positions in an ongoing effort to trim its financial outlay by $2 billion.

The Company is Losing Ground to Smaller Rivals

Nike is now centering its focus on developing new products as it continues to lose ground against smaller rivals.

A list of the 732 positions cut this year was provided by Nike to Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, a requirement that must be met when mass layoffs take place. The figures do not include positions cut last year which affected people working in brand, digital products, engineering, innovation, human resources, recruitment and sourcing.

Many Senior Positions Were Axed in the Latest Round of Layoffs

The latest round of layoffs sees senior positions heavily trimmed back and account for more than 40% of the jobs lost. In terms of the pecking order, the list reveals the following layoffs:

Vice Presidents   32

Senior Directors   112

Directors   174

Senior administrative assistan   22

Executive assistants   4

The bulk of the dismissals were in the apparel, brand, finance, and footwear departments.

The Brain Drain is Impacting Nike says Analyst

The loss of experienced workers is increasingly becoming a talking point among stock analysts, and this latest round of layoffs, like the 700 Oregon workers who were laid off in 2020, once again presents a drain of decades of experience.

Last week, Nike suffered the biggest one-day loss in its history when stocks fell almost 20% after the company announced an expected decrease in sales this fiscal year. The drop wiped out shareholder wealth by $28 billion.

Writing to investors, Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser says that in his view the talent at Nike ‘does not hold a candle’ compared to seven years ago.

Before the latest round of layoffs, there were 83,700 employed globally by Nike, with 11,400 at its global headquarters in Beaverton.

CEO John Donahue says the company is now focused on ‘driving for consumer innovation and execution.’

Takeaways

In October last year, Kevin Kiptum set a men’s world record at the Chicago Marathon wearing a pair of Nike Alphafly sneakers not yet released on the market. He was a mere 35 seconds away from breaking the mythical two-hour barrier.