Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

Bye FTEs, Hello ETW Nike. Time to Unionize!!!

With Nike looking to let go of about 2,000 FTEs it’s looking like a contractor full company with just random FTEs left in whatever department didn’t get the cut this time. I think it’s time ETWs unionized. They’ve already changed the requirements to extend/renew ETWs to prevent the loss of tribal knowledge. How possible is this?

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| 4713 views | | 19 replies (last January 10, 2024) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1quEno6c

19 replies (most recent on top)

This is Nike. There are no announcements. If you’re a people manager you’ve had to attend meetings regarding this. If you aren’t you won’t find out unless it directly affects you. They will not extend you if you have specific job title. I’m guessing the work around is they change your job description.

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Post ID: @1kos+1quEno6c

@1lbg+1quEno6c interesting, I had not heard that. Was this announced in some way?

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Post ID: @1uyz+1quEno6c

It used to be after 2080 hours ETWs would be forced to take a 90 day break before taking on a new contract at Nike. They just doubled that to 4160 hours before the mandatory 90 days.

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Post ID: @1lbg+1quEno6c

Regarding unionizing. Just don’t do it

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Post ID: @1eyh+1quEno6c

People here referenced ETW extension policy changing. Please explain. Current ETW and I hadn’t heard this.

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Post ID: @1moe+1quEno6c

@ckb+1quEno6c You mean like RL and LJ forcing GT into contracts that were expensive, with lower quality vendors, and then getting kick backs from that and ghost contractors?

Nike is currently under investigation by the state of Oregon for the FTE/ETW ratio… we will end up like Microsoft.

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Post ID: @hxo+1quEno6c

Has their legal team heard of the Microsoft case? They can get sued for keeping etws for a long period of time.

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Post ID: @kld+1quEno6c

Let’s be real about why the ETW to FTE ratio is so bad. Follow the money. Someone is getting paid to hire all these ETW’s, and they are not motivated to do what’s best for Nike, but what puts more bodies in seats, pays them more money, and allows them to payoff/bribe more folks to make the cycle continue & expand as it has over the last 10-15 years. The quality of work is abhorrent, with the decent FTE’s doing the work of 5-10-15 ETW’s. (In Tech). What happened to the “going back to a 50-50 ratio” after the last disastrous SAP upgrade (& middleware remediation)? Wasn’t that one of the learnings from that?

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Post ID: @ckb+1quEno6c

This layoff will total 2,000+ people if history in 2017 and 2020 is any indication.

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Post ID: @jdc+1quEno6c

@mun+1quEno6c “overstaffed” is subjective. if overstaffed wr sure are keeping some of the wrong folks.

They literally just let go some of top producers and kept some cr-ppy a-s kissers in the most recent rounds. . Not exactly getting our bang for our buck.

More likely we need to shift strategy and some people are being thrown under the bus while some others try to save their a-s

Nike still has the lowest number of employees per revenue or net income dollar generated out of any company in this industry

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Post ID: @feu+1quEno6c

Coming up on 2 years on contract. ETWs are everywhere, not just entry level. I design at least 2M worth of product a year. Yeah Nike abuses the contract system, but I signed on the dotted line. Yes they take advantage of me but I continue to work here. It is what it is. I’m close to calling it quits, gotta get my life started at some point. But yeah, until they have to pay out a large lawsuit they’re not going to stop. It is cheaper, and it’ll continue to be abused. Also they extended the ETW length of stay to protect against lawsuits. Don’t get it twisted.

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Post ID: @rfc+1quEno6c

They are not letting go 2000 fte. It will be like 700. Nike is over staffed as usual. Etws provide flexibility that’s why they are hired. But they are useful for low level tasks. You spend a year training them and then they are gone. Nike systems are garbage and ramp up takes a long time Etws are not cheaper in the long run. The etw staffing agency markup outweighs the benefits cost which the employee mostly eats. Plus you have to pay overtime. Fte is fixed cost so work em 60 hours per week if you want. Look at bill rate versus what the etw actually takes home. Also one experienced fte can do the work of several etw due to complexity. An fte is nothing more than a glorified etw anyways. There’s no job security. Employment at will.

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Post ID: @mun+1quEno6c

ETWs are more expensive, but then why are there so many at Nike/Microsoft/Intel? They’ve literally streamlined how to hire more ETWs. They’ve got it down to pat. Let an ETW go, hire one that just finished their 90day break. No need to train. Even says in the job posting “Nike experience a plus”.

If FTEs are so cheap then why let go of over 2k of them? Sounds like this company only wants outsourced labor.

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Post ID: @tvs+1quEno6c

@cnj+1quEno6c So true. It takes 18 months to see an ROI on onboarding investment for a new hire. no one’s factoring that into the business case and just considering TC to TC, sans healthcare

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Post ID: @xif+1quEno6c

Etws are actually more expensive than Fte. There is a staffing agency markup most people don’t consider that is significant. Plus by the time they are trained the assignment is half over. So it’s not a good deal. It’s easier and cheaper to hire and fire fte.

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Post ID: @cnj+1quEno6c

ETWs is probably cheaper in the long run which is probably why they extended the duration of ETWs. If they can cut all FTEs, any company would do so. Not having to pay for medical, dental, vision, PTO, etc. would save Nike a lot of money.

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Post ID: @iht+1quEno6c

I did years in a union shop. I would leave Nike so quickly my shoes would leave a burning strip of rubber behind me. Never will work union again. It is not all the organizer (or the shop steward) says it will be.

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Post ID: @jfs+1quEno6c

Right? Why do execs get contracts with an exit clause and we don’t?

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Post ID: @ztj+1quEno6c

I think it’s time both FTEs and ETWs unionize tbh

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Post ID: @sgb+1quEno6c

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