The manner in which these layoffs were handled was atrocious and inhumane for both those affected and unaffected. The obvious lack of planning, the leak months in advance and the announcement right before the weekend are simply inexcusable and unkind. The buck stops with you.
The continued outsourcing of jobs to India from the very neighborhoods, county, city, state and country that supported you along the way and in which you freely operate today is simply no more than trading the livelihoods of your very own friends and neighbors for profit. Have you no shame or courage to do the right thing? Again, the buck stops with you.
Doubling down on Nike stock shortly before the layoffs occurred was truly in poor taste. Out of respect for those whose lives were going to be shortly upended, could one not have simply waited until after the layoffs to avoid the impropriety of having profited at the expense of those you once led? Does the character of a good leader allow one to take from the downtrodden and those who follow? Again, the buck stops with you.
But there is a catch. The buck stops with us as well. Your friends, neighbors and coworkers, past and present.
So when it comes time to measure your character and integrity as leaders? The buck stops with us. When we see you at the grocery store whispering while looking away in disgust, the buck stops with us. When we throw out our copy of Shoe Dog while mumbling “dou--e bag” under our breathes? The buck stops with us. When you experience imposter syndrome while pandering the same rhetoric off a teleprompter to the employees that make a fraction of what you do but actually do all of the work? Yes, you guessed it, the buck stops with us.
You can keep the company and the jobs but your legacies are no longer yours: they belong to those of us you continue to employ and abuse and the nearly 5000 lost over the last 3 years. We see you and always will, that’s your new legacy.
“Failed leadership characterized by a lack of character, competence, or care destroys organizational trust, often resulting in fear, high turnover, and toxic culture.” — AI Agent #212 - 2026