Our boss has been nonstop stalking about the mistakes of the past while his own focus for two plus yrs has been all commerce and transactional - selling to wholesale, as many running shoes as he can (like Vomero 18 which was created 2-3 yrs ago). Now thinks the answer is more layoffs and offshoring while ushering in leaders from Walmart, dr-g companies, McDonalds and more. There a reason the stock's in the 30s. No belief in the company's FUTURE looking vision. Focus needs to shift fast to the consumer, innovative product, and inspiring across sport culture, or we only go down more from here.
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- A smaller Nike: Explicit admission that peak Nike is behind us and we’ll never have that many employees again.
- Faster turnaround: forget everything you heard about the shoe dev cycle taking 18 months. Times will be cut sharply. Tough luck if you’re a shoe designer and don’t like travelling to Vietnam 20 weeks per year.
IHQ will encompass all supporting business functions including, finance, tech, legal, procurment and HR. I would expect what remains in PHK and EHQ will be a skeleton crew of employees in those teams mostly just managing interactions between IHQ employees and the rest of the company not in IHQ. It's brutal for employees in those roles today that will lose their jobs but Nike is way behind other companies in offshoring those services and roles. I say this as someone in one of those functions assuming I'll be on the cut list sooner than later. Between offshorimg, outsourcing and AI we're living through the beginning stages of the end of employment in the US outside of medical related jobs, certain trade jobs that can't be replaced with robotics and high end services for the 1% e.g. personal chef. Good luck to everyone, we're all in the same boat unless you're a millionaire.
@jk product innovation
Which functions will move to IHQ?
The lower benefits meaning higher cost to you and lower merit have already begun. A less profitable company taking charges for restructuring also pays lower PSP.
Yep, the new building in bangaroo is gonna be called IHQ and it's going to be going to pretty much be a home for all the business functions they can stuff in it.
@ae this is not the full picture that will matter. Our short sighted leaders believe two things to be true of AI: that multiple offshore engineers with AI will somehow equate expensive engineers in the US (lol) and that the "force multiplier" is to reduce team size for business teams with AI. The second statement but not the first is achievable.
People are in for a rough time. Much more than engg will be moving to ITC. When the performance and quality failures of our well underway ITC push come to bear, the driver will become if it has not already started to become automation over archaic process and slow moving business teams. Prepare accordingly.
We should fly those designers even faster and further. Burn more cash 💰
@a5 there are designers flying all over the globe (as we speak) scrambling to cobble together some dogshhh to present at investors day. No innovation. Just tired ideas and ai slop
Investors day will be about a new strategy. No idea on the name of specifics, but it will surely include these key points:
- Operational efficiency: Layoffs until 2031 and beyond, with an emphasis on moving Tech to ITC fast because that's where the salary savings are. Lots of mentioning AI as a 'force multiplier'.
- A 'renewed passion for product'. Hard to believe when Vomero was EH's only success, and getting back at Hoka is the one reason that shoe exists in the first place.
- Flexible supply chain: Outsource the whole function.
- Increased local control: It's cheaper when APLA's not based out of the US.
- Financial discipline (featuring the new CFO): Lower bonuses, cuts on benefits and low pay increases, all under the guise of 'managing inflationary headwinds'.
- More layoffs.
Yes, it’s been clear from Wall Street and consumers that they want to see more innovation and exciting new products from Nike.
How was the reaction from FA27 sell-in? Any projection on what’s going to be shared on Investor Day?