After Levi’s (Levi’s), another clothing and footwear giant announced layoffs.
Nike (NKE) CEO John Donahoe told employees in a company-wide email that the company is laying off 2% of its workforce and doesn’t expect the layoffs to affect store workers, distribution center workers, or employees in its innovation team.
As of the end of May 2023, Nike has 83,700 employees, which means that more than 1,600 employees will be laid off. On February 19, the reporter contacted Nike China, and as of 0:00 on the 20th, there was no response.
Nike CEO calls job cuts’ painful reality ‘
CEO John Donahoe said the company is using resources to invest more in the running, women’s wear and Jordan categories. In response to the layoffs, John Donahoe said, “This is a painful reality that I cannot take lightly. “We are not playing at our best at the moment and ultimately we have to hold ourselves and my leadership team accountable.”
Higher rents and interest rates have led customers to cut back on big-ticket items, leading sportswear companies such as Nike and Adidas to warn that retailers are reducing orders through wholesale channels.

In fact, in the earnings conference call on December 21 last year, Nike executives have revealed the layoffs plan. On the same day’s conference call for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 earnings, John Donahoe said Nike is looking for opportunities to achieve cumulative cost savings of up to $2 billion over the next three years, with potential savings in areas such as simplifying product assortment, increasing automation and technology use, streamlining the organization, and leveraging the company’s scale to improve efficiency.
In this way, the current round of Nike 2% layoffs is also part of the cost-saving plan. Nike also said in its earnings report that the company is taking steps to streamline its organization, which is expected to result in approximately $400 million to $450 million in pre-tax restructuring charges, most of which will be recognized in the third quarter of fiscal 2024, primarily for employee severance.
Cumulative cost savings of $2 billion over the next three years in categories such as womenswear and Jordan are seen as a way to reinvigorate growth
Nike’s financial report for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (2023.8.31-2023.11.30) shows that during the reporting period, Nike’s revenue was 13.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 1%, net profit was 1.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 19%, and gross margin was 44.6%, compared with 42.9% in the same period last year.
On a regional basis, revenue in Greater China increased 4% year-over-year to $1,863 million and 8% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Greater China is also Nike’s second fastest growing region. Looking at Nike’s various businesses in Greater China, footwear revenue decreased 1% year-on-year to $1.361 billion, apparel increased 19% year-on-year to $469 million, and equipment increased 32% year-on-year to $33 million.

Nike earnings screenshot
Nike China has also publicly stated that the Greater China region has grown for five consecutive quarters. John Donahoe said on the conference call that in Greater China, NIKE’s physical store sales achieved double-digit growth during the National Day, and Nike once again surpassed the industry during the 11.11 period to become the number one sports brand on Tmall.
Comprehensive conference call and the Nike released the layoff email, Nike will focus on the next development of running series, women’s wear and Jordan three businesses.
John Donahoe said on the conference call that the Jordan brand is becoming the second largest footwear brand in North America, i.e. the largest brand after Nike. Nike’s women’s business is valued at about $9 billion and has averaged high single-digit growth over the past three years. He revealed that 40 percent of Nike’s members are female consumers, “they make up a larger percentage of new members, and the demand for members is growing faster.” We see a huge opportunity to better serve that consumer by meeting their performance and lifestyle needs.”

The wave of layoffs can’t stop.

H&M is closing 20% of its stores in Spain and cutting nearly 600 jobs
Swedish fast fashion giant H&M has announced the closure of 20% of its stores in Spain, affecting 588 employees. Spain is the home of its rival Zara, which has been crushing H&M in recent years, and the Swedish company is worth less than a fraction of the Spanish company’s billion-plus euro market value.
The Swedish company currently has around 133 stores and 4,000 employees in Spain, of which it plans to close 28. In response to the store closures, a spokesperson for the Swedish company said it is continuously evaluating its store portfolio to seek the right stores in the right locations to remain competitive.
The job cuts come as a surprise to H&M, which raised wages in Spain last year in response to worker protests.

Levi’s announced global job cuts of between 2 and 3, 000

According to Reuters on the 25th local time, LEVI Strauss & Co (LEVI.N), the parent company of the world’s leading clothing brand Levi’s, announced on Thursday:

10 to 15 per cent of global corporate jobs will be cut to cut costs. This will result in a restructuring charge of $110 million to $120 million in the first quarter.

Levi’s employs about 20,000 people worldwide, including about 5,000 at the company’s headquarters.

The company also gave an outlook for 2024 sales and profit that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Chip Bergh, President and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co, said:

“While 2023 was a challenging year, we finished the year on a strong note and I am optimistic about the future. I have full confidence in Michelle as my successor, and together with the rest of our team, they will position the company to thrive in the next phase of its growth.”
Levi’s is a famous brand of jeans, founded by the Jewish businessman Levi Strauss. In 1853, Levi Strauss founded Levi Strauss & Co, a manufacturer of canvas overalls. The company.

In 1873, he and another group of people, JACOB DAVIS, registered a patent for the “bump nails” used in their button jeans, marking the birth of the first jeans.

In the 2018 World’s Top 500 Brands list, Levi’s was ranked 111th

Jose Neves, the founder of luxury e-commerce company Farfetch, has been ousted from the company and laid off 30% of its staff

On Thursday evening, South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang announced Farfetch Ltd. Jose Neves, the founder of Fafac, was ousted as chief executive at the same time as almost the entire management of the company was fired, They include Tim Stone, Chief Financial Officer; Luis Teixeira, Chief Operating officer; Elizabeth Von Der Goltz, chief Fashion and commercial officer; and Kelly Kowal, head of Farfetch Platform Solutions.
Jose Neves will continue to serve as an advisor to Coupang, and Coupang will not appoint a new CEO for the time being. Coupang founder Bom Kim and the executive team will run the company.
After bailing out Coupang for $500 million late last year, Tang Xiaotang, founder of Global Fashion Investments, predicted that Mr Neves would soon be wiped out and that few would tolerate his management style after losing his voting rights.
Coupang, which took the lead in addressing management, said a number of job cuts were coming and that it would be in talks with those laid off in Portugal on Friday and in Britain on Monday. It is reported that the layoffs amount to 25-30% of the total, which is the largest percentage of layoffs in the technology industry in more than a year, including product design, platform solutions and third-party related departments.
In addition to the job cuts, the sale of non-core assets, Brown’s, and retailer New Guards Group, are also understood to be under way.

eBay has announced its second round of layoffs

On January 24, Nandu reporters learned that the overseas e-commerce giant eBay announced its layoffs. Jamie Iannone, president and CEO of eBay, said in the letter to all employees that in order to help eBay better achieve long-term, sustainable growth, the company will reduce its current workforce by about 1,000 positions, and this round of layoffs will affect about 9% of full-time employees in the coming months. eBay will also reduce the number of contracts for alternate employees. It is worth mentioning that this is the second time in a year that eBay has started to lay off employees. In February 2023, eBay announced it was laying off about 500 employees, or about 4% of its workforce, due to a slowdown in consumer spending.

In the all-Hands letter, Jamie Iano also mentioned that eBay’s total headcount and expenses have now outpaced the growth of the business. It was in order to solve this problem that this organizational change was implemented to align and integrate certain teams. “To address this, we are implementing organizational changes, aligning and integrating certain teams to improve the end-to-end experience and better meet the needs of our customers around the world.” Jamie Iano said.

It is understood that eBay is an online auction and shopping website that supports consumers worldwide to buy and sell items online. In fact, in February 2023, eBay announced that it was laying off about 500 employees, or about 4% of its workforce, in light of the slowdown in consumer spending.

According to overseas media reports, eBay shares fell about 4% in November after providing fourth-quarter revenue guidance, when Jamie Iano said on an analyst call that eBay observed weak consumer trends in the fourth quarter, while inflation pressures and rising interest rates continued to affect consumer confidence and put pressure on demand for discretionary items.

According to the third quarter of 2023 financial report released by eBay, eBay’s net revenue in the third quarter of last year was $2.50 billion, an increase of 5% compared with $2.380 billion in the same period last year, excluding the impact of exchange rate changes, also an increase of 5%. But on a non-GAAP basis, eBay’s third-quarter adjusted net income from continuing operations was $545 million, down 1% from $552 million a year earlier. According to reports, eBay’s third quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share exceeded Wall Street analysts’ expectations, but analysts’ outlook for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 revenue and adjusted earnings per share missed expectations, mainly because of weak consumer spending due to inflation in the United States, and competition from rivals such as Amazon is becoming increasingly fierce.

In addition to the pressure from the local e-commerce in the United States, in recent years, e-commerce represented by China’s Temu and SHEIN are also further squeezing eBay’s share. Some industry insiders told Nandu reporters that the industry’s prediction of China’s offshore e-commerce platform is basically very optimistic. “There is a general feeling that global domination is a matter of time, that the supply chain and operational capabilities are too strong.”
Sources: Southern Metropolis Daily, Global Fashion Investment, Textile Fabric Platform