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Nike employees have alleged a sexist, toxic workplace culture.
- The New York Times published a report on Saturday about Nike's problematic work culture.
- Several top male executives have left the company in recent weeks. A massive internal report by female Nike employees detailed myriad allegations of gender discrimination, which has led to a review of its human resources operations.
- In the summer of 2016, employees were reportedly fired by PowerPoint. "That's absolutely not normal practice for us," spokesperson KeJuan Wilkins told The Times.
We've heard of firing by text message, email, presidential tweet, and plenty of other unsavory methods. Learning you're out of a job by PowerPoint, however, is a new one.
A New York Times story published on Saturday reported myriad instances of alleged sexism and gender discrimination at Nike. A group of women at the global athletic shoe and apparel giant interviewed their female colleagues earlier this year, and gave Mark Parker, Nike's chief executive, a packet of detailed allegations on March 5. Subsequently, several top male executives announced they would leave Nike and the company began reviewing its human resources operations.
The Times' Julie Creswell, Kevin Draper, and Rachel Abrams probed deeper into Nike's work culture, in interviews with 50 current and former employees.
One story that came from these interviews was an account of how Nike employees were terminated in summer of 2016. Nike decided at that time to stop producing golf equipment. According to The Times story, employees in the golf equipment division were directed to a department meeting.
Their names were then broadcasted on a large screen, categorized by different rooms for each employee to go to. Some of those people were laid off, a source told The Times. "The person said it left employees with the impression they were being let go via PowerPoint presentation," according to The Times.
Spokesperson KeJuan Wilkins, who was quoted throughout the piece, told The Times that the situation was "more nuanced than it appeared."
"That's absolutely not normal practice for us," he said. In layoff situations, "We make great efforts to treat every employee in a very thoughtful manner."