Big Company - good & bad - Finance NIKE Employee Review

3.0
Aug 12, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Gym, Sports, benefits, summer fridays. Mid-day workouts. Generally young and active type of people. Lots of smart folks around. Fast paced. If you're young, competitive and smart give it a go for a couple years. Or, if you're in an easy job just let it ride and enjoy the benefits and afternoon workouts.

Cons

HR/TA focus on bringing outside talent (not internal development and promotion). This has led to decline in the culture and collective values over time. Very difficult to advance from within and you are paid less then those brought in externally. You may even be paid less than those with lower titles and less experience on the same team because of this. Students from the local colleges are not prioritized but rather bringing in 'talent' from outside the state. Many of these entry roles don't require more than a bachelors so there's a lot of over qualified people for their position. Creates a meat grinder as the real payoff isn't until you're a Director level. Nike is a complicated organization and new managers struggle because of this. Constant planning (deck creation) and dog and pony shows to showcase strategy (really so people can self promote and look sharp). A lot of self-promotion that happens as it's the tried-and-true way to move ahead. Present well, look sharp and glad hand the right people. Creating 'value' and working hard, while constantly emphasized, is not the game here. Perception is king. Highly competitive to advance which creates a 'popularity' contest. A lot of drinking the kool-aid and thus group think. The mid-tier managers all participate in this to survive and advance. Highly stressful in certain positions (health consequences for many). Best areas to work are in design, product, innovation. If you land in a spot with good people (and manager) it can be great. However, you can easily fall victim to a bad manager or re-organization which leaves you in a bad spot.

Explore other reviews about NIKE

5.0
Jun 22, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

great people to work with

Cons

there are no cons that i can think of

2.0
Jul 15, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

discounted gear, a paycheck in a tough job market, free gyms

Cons

This company has completely given up on investing in its employees. Even during difficult times, it should still recognize, reward, and develop its strongest contributors. People who lead major, high-impact projects receive little to no recognition, reward, or career advancement and are treated the same as those who contribute very little. There are virtually no opportunities for growth or promotion, and favoritism seems to play a significant role in career progression. If your manager doesn't like you or doesn't advocate for you, advancement becomes even more difficult. The expectation is to continuously deliver more work with little or no recognition or investment in your career. I've worked at companies that paid significantly less than Nike, yet they were much better at recognizing talent by giving employees titles and responsibilities and projects that reflected their skills and contributions and interest. Here, unless you're one of the favored employees, there is little opportunity to grow, regardless of your impact. Again, if your manager has something against you, your future is very limited at Nike.

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