Nike, the sportswear titan that has long been a standard-bearer of corporate success and brand dominance within the athletic industry, is slated to reduce its workforce once again. The company informed state officials that it plans to lay off 740 employees at its headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, by June 28, KGW8 reports. The impending layoffs are part of a broader restructuring effort that Nike announced earlier in February, which will ultimately terminate around 2% of its global workforce, accounting for roughly 1,600 positions.
According to a statement obtained by OPB, a Nike spokesperson accentuated the company's proactive stance amid this tumultuous period, saying, "Nike’s always at our best when we’re on the offense. he actions that we’re taking put us in the position to right-size our organization to get after our biggest growth opportunities as interest in sport, health and wellness have never been stronger." The internal communication reflects an attempt to assertively navigate through current challenges, including a notable dip in online sales and ongoing market pressures.
The reduction affects personnel at the company's sprawling campus at One Bowerman Drive, but will not impact store employees or those involved in manufacturing activities, as KPTV reported. The layoffs are reportedly to be complete by this Friday, with affected employees instructed to work from home throughout the week. Nike has been forthcoming about the painful nature of the process, acknowledging the difficulty of such corporate moves.
This isn't Nike's first rodeo with cost reduction strategies. The Beaverton-based company also implemented layoffs affecting 2% of its global workforce back in 2017, which amounted to about 1,400 employees at the time. Tracing its roots back to the 1960s in Eugene, Oregon, co-founder Phil Knight began the journey by selling running shoes from the trunk of his car at local track meets. From such humble origins, the company has risen to become a global behemoth in sportswear, now looking to strategically streamline operations to continue to firmly compete on the global stage.
