Nike’s Recent Layoffs and Restructuring, Explained

During fourth quarter earnings report in June, CEO Elliott Hill hinted at a restructuring of their corporate teams, with a small number of layoffs. On August 28, a memo was sent to Nike employees confirming that less than 1 per cent of its workforce would be laid off.

This round of restructuring continues with Hill’s sport-first approach to the company as a whole, and follows last year’s news that would be affected by redundancies. But… this shouldn’t be interpreted as a negative for Nike’s future.

Hill stated in the memo that Nike will no longer structure their corporate teams around ‘men’s’, ‘women’s’ and ‘kids’ categories. Now, staff will be split into ‘sport obsessed’ teams, which will focus on singular sports like running and football. Hill added that these new groups will create ‘the most innovative and coveted product, footwear, apparel and accessories for the specific athletes they serve’. These restructuring changes are set to come into effect for Nike, and , with the leaders for each of the teams identified in July. ‘Some of us will take on a new position or level, report to a new manager, or join a new team,’ the internal memo read.

It should be noted that these changes will only affect a small number of corporate jobs across the brand's global operations, and is a far cry from the 740 people let go during the middle of last year. The overall head count at Nike is in fact set to grow, as further restructuring will continue to support Hill’s ‘sport offence’ strategy in positive steps for the company as a whole.

It’s no secret that Nike aren’t the top-tier performance powerhouse they once were, thanks to stiff competition on sneaker store shelves from nimble rivals. , the Swoosh's previous CEO who took the reins in January of 2020, saw his tenure marred with criticism over a shift to direct-to-consumer practices. Prioritising the scaling of Nike’s digital operations effectively saw a shut down of relationships with smaller brick-and-mortar boutiques and other retail partners like . During this time there was also an over-reliance on retro models like the and lifestyle product like the and . Despite seeing increases in sales between 2020 and 2023, momentum fizzled by 2024, and criticism of Donahoe’s decision reached an all-time high. Those relationships with retailers were key to Nike’s cultural cache, and the heavy lifestyle output meant the brand had left space for young, innovative brands like and to shine within the sports market. Nike had lost their mojo, a fact made clear on June 28, 2024, when the company experienced its worst single-day stock market loss on record, falling almost 20 per cent.

In 2025, Nike are – but Hill has said ‘It will take time to reach the volume to replace the handful of classic franchises we over-indexed on,' the CEO said in March. ‘But our help consumers fall in love with something new from Nike, and that something is not replacing one icon for another.’ Not only have Nike begun rebuilding their retailer relationships, they’ve put sport back at the centre of all operations, which can be seen through their new three-family approach to running with the , and . They've also shown a dedicated focus on female athletes – case in point, the brand’s first commercial in almost three decades, which aired earlier this year and featured basketballers and

Looking at the recent product output and focuses, Nike are definitely back to being innovators in sport. They’ve upped their basketball offering, which includes the likes of the , , and franchises. On the football front they’ve dropped cleats alongside , and . Meanwhile, the was recently brought back into the elite outdoor sport arena, in the .

Despite some cultural clout returning back to the Swoosh sport stable, it’s been an uphill battle for Hill. In Nike’s Q4 results, sales fell by 12 per cent year-over-year – thought this was a smaller drop than originally anticipated. Beaverton HQ are also anticipating a smaller-than-expected drop in their next Q1 results, and are looking to cut reliance on Chinese production to mitigate impacts from tariffs. The on imports are currently expected to add around $1 billion to Nike’s costs. Around 16 per cent of Nike's shoe manufacturing occurs in China – the nation assigned the largest import increases to the US. There will also be further restructuring in Nike’s corporate team to assist with keeping tariff costs down.

‘The moves we’re making are about setting ourselves up to win and create the next great chapter for Nike,’ Team Swoosh said in a statement. ‘This new formation is built to put sport and sport culture back at the centre, to connect more deeply with the athlete and the consumer, and to give us the space to create what only Nike can.’

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