To all the people who moved to Portland to work at Nike over the last 5 years and ended up losing their jobs…. I’m sorry you never saw this company at its best. Sorry you never saw true leadership and sorry you’re now left picking up the pieces. It’s hard to relate to the LinkedIn think pieces when your Nike career was covid, then layoffs. So sorry
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I relocated during the pandemic, and my relo costs were just shy of $100k (including true-ups). Still here thankfully
I left Nike voluntarily about a decade ago and my career flourished in a way that was never possible at Nike. Others pay better and offer very similar benefits. Other employers promote on merit and proven performance rather than on your brown nosing or, in some circumstances, bedroom skills. Many employers actually provide work/life balance rather than just constantly talk about it.
When I left, the biggest challenge was trying to stay busy at the level I was used to at WHQ. It took time to realize that not every company expects you to complete 16 hours of work in an 8 hour day. For a time, I was bored due to having reasonable workloads and it took time to realize that a colleague's friendly greeting or lunch invite was NOT a potential political trap.
You will find that "Nike" is an illusion. It's just a corporate job with really cool offices, easily accessed food and coffee options, and some attractive people to gaze at. Other than some design and marketing roles, 99% of the roles are the same as you find anywhere else. If you are willing to give up the decor, lattes just steps from your desk, and removing daggers from your back each night, then you will find happiness and success outside of the berm.
regarding relo costs. i relo'd for during the period (the s- show was evident immediately and i left asap). All-in i estimate 50k was spent on my relo
Agree 100% with OP’s sentiments.
Disagree with the posts below suggesting Nike is the only game in town for gainful employment. I suppose if your skill set is highly correlated to this specific industry - you’re a shoe designer or something like that - it may be true. Otherwise if you have skills that can transfer to another industry there are a ton of employers that offer good pay and benefits, some semblance of job security, and real work-life balance.
I voluntarily left Nike almost a year ago and landed in a good place. The biggest benefit was that my stress level was more than cut in half. It’s difficult to fully understand how much kool-aid employees drink until you leave and only then realize it was just a job. I don’t regret my time at Nike. It was mostly good. The company does however tend to make employees feel like working at Nike is some kind of special opportunity when in reality it’s nothing more than a job with some occasional perks. Even those perks have noticeably declined through the years. Try to avoid falling into the trap of thinking there isn’t good work outside the berm. For most of you that won’t be true.
Back up the timing to 2015 when the mass hiring and relocation to Portland happened. That tally should be large. Agree not very impressed with the company, LT and fake vibe evenprior to covid. Oh and the same LT in place except for the worm JD and his sidekick MM
Would love to see a tally of relocation expenses and how many of those relocated remain with Nike after 3 years. Agreed with the point about Nike being the main employer in town - they can do what they want with you.
Nike uses the fact that you only have them as employer in Portland to do whatever they want with you….
If possible, avoid moving at all costs.
Meh I was laid off 2017 and was there for almost 5 years. Never saw any great leadership then either. Was best thing to happen to me to leave Nike my career took off since then. Nike was my first real corporate job and wasn’t impressed would never go back