Nike To Lay Off About 1,400 Employees

PORTLAND, OR — Nike on Thursday announced the upcoming reduction of 2 percent of its global workforce — estimated around 1,400 employees — as part of a new campaign to bolster its presence in the digital marketplace.

Calling the campaign the "Consumer Direct Offense," company heads appear hopeful that focused growth in specific areas of the world will balance the losses the company has suffered as online purchases take the place of traditional brick and mortar sales and the increasingly popular Adidas brand forces competition in the market. Driving growth in 12 key cities, Nike officials said, will place the company closer to its consumers, "creating a local business, on a global scale."

"The future of sport will be decided by the company that obsesses the needs of the evolving consumer," Mark Parker, NIKE, Inc. chairman, president, and CEO said in a statement. "Through the Consumer Direct Offense, we're getting even more aggressive in the digital marketplace, targeting key markets and delivering product faster than ever."

The 12 cities where Nike will focus its efforts are: New York and Los Angeles, Mexico City, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Milan, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul. These specific areas, according to Nike, will represent 80 percent of the company's projected growth through 2020. But where the layoffs will occur, ostensibly to allow this campaign to go forward, is still unknown.

Nike's Washington County headquarters could be a target, the Portland Business Journal warned, noting the dip in Nike's sales announced in 2016 was underscored by an increase in sales for Adidas that year.

Portland Business Journal staff reporter Matthew Kish said Nike, with 12,000 employees reported last month, is the second largest employer in the county behind Intel — which also has a tremendous local presence that is almost annually affected by layoffs as well. Globally, Nike employs more than 70,000 people.

The layoffs are expected to occur over the next two months, according to CNN Money, which also reported a 2 percent dip in Nike's stock (NKE) after the announcement was made.

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