This is a frank question. I know that the job pays bills but in general, do you have any sense of purpose related to your work here? Does Nike really have any mission any more (aside from generating piles of $$$ for folks that, aside from capital, haven nothing to do with the company)?
I am going a bit philosophical tonight, I've had a rough day at work...
I think about this a lot. I work in Cybersecurity. My background as well as several others I know that work or have worked at Nike have worked at places such as the FBI, CIA, etc. We generally feel the same.
The skills I have can be used to protect any organization. We sell sneakers, we serve Athletes*. How you feel about your job, career, and just life, in general, is a matter of perspective.
Sure, I could go to work for some alphabet soup agency and make half of what I make now doing the same thing, not be able to be remote at all, sit in traffic in DC for 2 hours each way. Protecting the country would feel great for about six months until my quality of life caught up with the novelty of it all.
The work I do protects Nike, but it also protects other companies, governments, etc because I am protecting Nike's infrastructure from being leveraged as a we---n (botnet) against others as well.
It's much more important to love what you do and have a decent quality of life, not necessarily who you do it for, but that does help a bit too. Nike affords a very decent quality of life.
At the end of your life when you are looking back on it with either gratitude or bitter regret, you will not give two thoughts to the companies you worked for, and probably not even the work that you did. You will think about the times you were present with those that you cared about and loved and how your relationship with them impacted you and everyone else around you.
I find purpose in taking care of my family and myself. Finding meaning in your job? That’s a luxury most cannot afford, or are not willing to deal will as it comes with risks and consequences.
This is a part of why I left. It felt like so much performative activism while we fill up landfills with junk it made my skin crawl. There were lots of other reasons too but at the end of the day you get one life, you should be contributing to something that you at least find some purpose in.
I’ve worked at places with legit ethical problems. Nike isn’t saving the world, and no doubt we are contributing to the machine of consumerism that will destroy the planet in the end, but there is worse. I collect my paycheck, take my 35 hour summer weeks, and am content enough not to think much more. Mid career, every job is a means to an end.