Sportswear brand Nike said it will cut 775 employees as the company looks to boost its bottom line and accelerate its use of “automation”.
According to CNBC, the layoffs are in addition to the 1,000 corporate job cuts Nike announced last summer and will primarily impact distribution centre roles in Tennessee and Mississippi, where the company operates large warehouses.
The sneaker giant said the layoffs will primarily affect its U.S. distribution operations and are designed to “reduce complexity, improve flexibility, and build a more responsive, resilient, responsible, and efficient operation”.
“We are sharpening our supply chain footprint, accelerating the use of advanced technology and automation, and investing in the skills our teams need for the future,” Nike told CNBC in a statement.
The company added that the cuts are part of Nike’s goal to get back to “long-term, profitable growth” and improve margins.
This comes as Nike CEO Elliot Hill works to turn around the company following years of slowing sales and shrinking margins.
These struggles follow John Donahoe’s, the company’s previous CEO, pursuit of a direct selling strategy that prioritised the retailers' stores and websites over wholesale partners.
Donahoe’s strategy saw Nike’s distribution centres and staff within them balloon without proper support for these staffing levels.
Under Hill’s direction, the company has been trying to win back wholesale partners, clean out stale inventory and reignite innovation.
The layoff announcement also comes as the sportswear brand is in the midst of investigating a potential data breach.
While the company beat analysts' expectations and revenue grew in Q2 2025, earnings per share and net income fell 32%.
At the time of writing, Nike (NYSE: NKE) stocks fell 0.08% to US$64.99. The company grew 0.11% in after-hours trading to US$65.06.
