Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

I have a genuine dislike for John Donahoe. He strikes me as the type of person who will tell you one thing to your face simply because you want to hear it and turn around and do the opposite, stab you in the back the moment you turn it. In other words, I DO NOT TRUST HIM and I do not think he care at all about any of us - just the shareholders and Wall Street. I would love to be proven wrong though.

Hi folks. I hope everyone is well.
I check out this forum once in a while to "learn" about what may be going on and how people are feeling and reacting to the events. I do not comment much at all. Today, I just want to say that it's okay to have an opinion; it's okay to disagree with someone's opinion. It's NOT okay, however, to humiliate someone because they do not think the same way as you do. I think we can try at least to show some respect for each other. People are tired and sometimes the moment gets the worst out of someone but that does not make them bad people - show some empathy. Maybe I am wrong according to some and that expected - feel free to disagree. Just be HUMAN about how you disagree. NO, I am not Nike HR trying to control anything. Cheers.

@pgj Hey I really like and agree with what you wrote. Very well stated.

That being said, everyone needs to stop counting other people’s money & letting envy get the best of them. This entire website, while enjoyable to read and at times insightful, is full of finger pointers and bellyaching. I get that prolonged uncertainty su€ks, but none of us can predict the future. Pointing the blame at specific Europeans or heads of Valiant, isn’t going to change anything. There is a glass ceiling that us common folk will never break, unless you start your own business.

We’re all worried and we do this dance every three years. Realize that when things are beyond your control, it doesn’t make sense to rationalize. You are a good person, otherwise you wouldn’t have landed this job. You make the company, not the other way around. HR may not be fair, so understand the process and work it to your advantage. If it doesn’t work, no one is making you stay. This is probably the worst time in history to do a RIF, but it’s happening anyway. Be good to each other at work and if you want to come back in a year, this company has so much turnover, you’ll return as a hirable SME. It will workout. Don’t let the bast@rds get your down.

All this sh– could be fixed if they literally gave the Nike employees who survived the layoffs a nice big bonus for living through this without jumping ship - kinda like they did with Donahoe. But, they won't. You'll all be asked to do more for less and be grateful that you have a job which, conveniently, provides
you with medical benefits during a pandemic. Funny how that works... The best part is that they expect you all to keep that entrepreneur mindset when you'll be on the chopping block soon enough when quarterly revenues don't match up to expectations (despite the company being filthy rich).

@1bxr, many may not admit it and more will want to counteract what was stated in the article especially the question you have posted from the article. The bottom-line, NIKE is the worst company I have ever been a part of. I truly wish the economy and job market is better so I can leave. I am actively searching and the moment I secure another job - even for less $ - I am out. I wish the authors have contacting me for few quotes - got few stories to tell.

"If there was ever a time when a Nike employee might wonder what kind of company they're working for," says Joshua Hunt, an investigative journalist who has closely followed the company, "it's now."

https://www.wweek.com/news/2019/11/20/oregons-flagship-company-has-done-wrong-why-arent-its-employees-resisting/

Source?

If the phrase “COVID bonus” truly exists on paper, then we are more f’d than I ever could have imagined. Those that think Nike is going to come out of the ongoing social unrest unscathed are sadly mistaken. Ask yourself if you've ever witnessed a giant corporation greedily reappropriating every single disenfranchised community, maybe you work for one? Again, if this is indeed true, it's going to piss off a lot more than employees. Consumers eventually catch on as companies go morally broke.

Covid’s barely been around 6 months. The company has only lost money since it started, which is not his entirely his fault, and now layoffs. What exactly is the bonus for?

That, on top of the $53 million, is so obscene and tone deaf. But then again, it’s Nike.

@pgj, I agree with everything you have stated. Yes, I too would have accepted that compensation level if offered to me. However, I am also certain that in times such as these I would have returned 75% to 80% of it and lead the charge towards a badly needed change in our social and economic systems.

Much love to you all.

I generally like Donahoe. And believe it or not I don’t blame him personally for accepting the compensation he was offered. If someone offered me that kind of money I’d probably take it too! I’d also bet many reading this would do the same.

But yes, this reveals a much larger problem in corporate America. Since the 1980’s executive compensation has become outright obscene. In 1965 the average Fortune 500 CEO-to-worker wage gap was 20 to 1. By 1989 it was 59 to 1. By 1995 it was 123 to 1. And now, in 2020, it is approximately 350 to 1.

While certain (usually wealthy) people have attempted to justify this thru various tenuous arguments, today even an increasing number of economists are saying, “Yeah, this is kind of messed-up and there is no rational economic or business argument supporting THAT much of an increase in four decades. We should start calling it what it is: pure greed, looting and grift amongst a small group of wealthy individuals who for the most part take care of each other at the expense of the many.”

This is all a signal that we are in what’s known as “late-stage capitalism”. In late-stage capitalism everything economic becomes out of balance and out of proportion. You have massive pay gaps, massive wealth gaps, and massive gaps in who has access to basic societal needs like healthcare. When people decide they have had enough of it they start to push back. I dare say that is why Donald Trump got elected (even though I personally think he was the absolutely wrong and a dangerous vessel through which to vent this type of anger.). This is also why the murder of George Floyd was a critical and overdue flashpoint for racial inequities. When people have finally had enough they get mad and they push back.

As all of these inequities continue to grow you’ll see increasing societal and economic unrest. Because even if a lot of people don’t deeply understand the economic and societal issues, most intuitively know that “something is very wrong”.

On the economic front the best case scenario is that government starts regulating or massively taxing things like executive compensation over a certain point. While I am admittedly uncomfortable with government deciding “what’s fair” like that, it has become abundantly clear that corporate America has little short or mid-term incentive to police such economic inequities itself. Even though it’s been empirically shown that excessive executive compensation has a direct and negative impact on employee morale, loyalty, and even productivity.

Like I said at the beginning, I actually like Donahoe. He strikes me as a decent human who genuinely cares about people. And that’s why I’d really like to see him take the lead in pushing back on his own 2020 compensation. If he did that he’d instantly become a rockstar not just at Nike, but in America. I can see the news headline now: “Nike CEO Pushes Back On Own Compensation, Says It ‘Wouldn’t be right’ To Accept In 2020 - The Year of Covid”. Can you imagine the pressure that would put on other Fortune 500 CEO’s??? He wouldn’t make many friends amongst the jet-set or perhaps even the Nike board, but man...what a powerful message of change that would send.

Oh well. A girl can dream, no?

agreed

If times were normal - jobs are available, jobs not being eliminated, people have choices, etc. - I would not have cared at all nor bothered by what type of salary, bonus and perks this CEO gets. However, when we are going through huge uncertainty in both economic and health crises, this type of compensation for an individual is a gross misconduct, unethical, and just feels wrong. How many jobs can be saved and how many families can be made to feel safe with that money? Isn't one on Nike's maxims is "do the right thing?" So, Nike, do the right thing and stick by your employees. Just my opinion and I certainly am not to trying to offend anyone. Extreme circumstances require a different, radical and unconventional measures. Happy to hear a counter argument other than "this is a business and we owe it to our shareholders" because they too are getting more than enough.