Nike said on Thursday it is planning to cut less than one per cent of its corporate workforce as part of the sportswear maker’s plans to turn around its business under CEO Elliott Hill. Under Hill, the company has been investing in its running shoe and sneaker lines to reclaim lost ground in the segments, while rekindling relationships with retailers and expanding its presence at physical stores in a bid to fight competition in the market. As of May 31, Nike had about 77,800 employees worldwide, including retail and part-time employees. The move follows Hill’s June remarks, when he stated that the company planned to “realign” into cross-functional teams by sport. “This new formation is built to put sport and sport culture back at the center, to connect more deeply with the athlete and the consumer,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. The layoffs will not affect Nike’s EMEA and Converse businesses, and it is unclear how many jobs will be impacted, CNBC reported earlier in the day. Nike had previously announced a job cut of two per cent in February last year, equaling more than 1,600 jobs, to lower expenses amid demand pressures. The company said in June it would cut its reliance on production in China for the U.S. market to mitigate the import tariff impact after forecasting a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue. (Reporting by Juveria Tabassum and Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Alan Barona)
