Nike’s CEO John Donahoe blamed himself on Friday whereas saying the corporate was shedding greater than 1,500 folks—cuts that Donahoe mentioned would “reignite our growth.”
In a extensively reported memo saying the two% reduce to Nike’s workforce, Donahoe added that he didn’t take the choice to put off 1000’s of staff calmly and put among the blame for Nike’s latest underperformance on himself and the corporate’s management. Portland, Ore.-based publication Willamette Week was first to report Donahoe’s feedback within the memo.
“We are not currently performing at our best, and I ultimately hold myself and my leadership team accountable,” he added.
It’s unclear if any Nike executives would face repercussions for the corporate’s lackluster performance. The corporate didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
In an announcement supplied to Footwear News, a spokesperson mentioned “Nike’s all the time at our greatest after we’re on the offense. The actions that we’re taking put us within the place to right-size our group to get after our largest progress alternatives as curiosity in sport, well being and wellness have by no means been stronger.
The shoe and attire firm’s determination to chop again on its staff echoes related strikes made throughout industries up to now 12 months. In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that the corporate’s “year of efficiency” modifications instituted in 2023 would turn into everlasting, after he noticed that Meta had been capable of “execute better and faster,” regardless of mass layoffs.
Different CEOs have additionally been fast to reduce their very own workforces, with one tech analyst including that the pattern has “become contagious.”
In January, Google CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned that the corporate would comply with up 12,000 layoffs in 2023 with extra cuts this 12 months. He mentioned in an inner memo obtained by the Verge that the cuts have been meant to “…drive velocity in some areas.”
Discord CEO Jason Citron mentioned in January that the corporate was shedding 170 folks to “sharpen our focus,” and “bring more agility to our organization,” the Verge reported based mostly on an inner memo.
In simply the primary two months of the 12 months a number of different main firms exterior tech, resembling Morgan Stanley, Paramount, and Citi, have introduced layoffs affecting 1000’s of employees.
In December, Nike mentioned that it deliberate to chop prices by $2 billion over the following three years as a part of a broad restructuring plan brought on partially by weaker shopper demand. The Oregonian reported that previous to Friday’s announcement the corporate had been laying employees off in phases throughout a number of divisions together with
In latest months clothes and shoe retailers together with Nike together with rivals Puma, and Adidas have reduce future steering and have warned that buyers are pulling back on their spending.
Nonetheless, the labor market general has remained sturdy and the unemployment fee has remained regular regardless of analyst predictions of an impending recession. Employers added 353,000 jobs in January, a lot increased than the 185,000 jobs some analysts anticipated to be added. The variety of staff let go up to now this 12 months can be far off from the greater than 100,000 laid off in January and February alone final 12 months, in keeping with knowledge from Layoffs.fyi.
