Turnaround efforts: Clothes for athletes and regular sports-loving women at the Nike Sports Research Lab in Beaverton, Oregon in the United States. The firm is taking steps to strengthen its operations so it can operate with greater discipline. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Nike is laying off 775 employees, a source familiar with the matter has told Reuters, as the sportswear giant looks to boost profits and accelerate its use of automation.
The cuts will primarily impact distribution centre roles in Tennessee and Mississippi, where the sneaker giant operates large warehouses, the person said.
Nike, whose business is struggling, is trying to reestablish itself as the world’s leading sportswear brand after losing market share to rivals.
It has undergone several rounds of layoffs in recent years.
In August, it cut a little less than 1% of its corporate workforce as part of its turnaround efforts under chief executive officer Elliott Hill, who took over the top job in 2024.
It had previously announced it would cut 2% of its jobs – more than 1,600 in total – in February 2024.
Monday’s layoffs were first reported by CNBC.
In a statement to Reuters, Nike said it was “taking steps to strengthen and streamline our operations so we can move faster, (and) operate with greater discipline”.
The move will primarily impact its distribution operations in the United States, the company said.
“Nike’s sales trends over the past two years have been well below normal, so it’s highly likely that it overbuilt warehouse capacity and overstaffed,” said Morningstar analyst David Swarz.
“Coupled with the rapidly increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence, the cuts were not surprising,” he said.
Nike had 77,800 employees worldwide, including retail and part-time staff, as of May 2025, when it published its last annual report.
Under Hill, the company has been investing heavily in its sneaker lines as it tries to refocus the brand on core sports such as running and soccer.
Nike reported a drop in gross margins for the second consecutive quarter in December, as poor sales in China and efforts to reset its product mix continued to vex it.
It also recently suffered a data breach that saw hackers release a trove of corporate data.
Nike said in its statement on Monday that the layoffs “are designed to reduce complexity, improve flexibility, and support our path back to long-term, profitable growth”. — Reuters
