After laying off 255 employees in Oregon in July, Nike Inc. told the state it is scheduled to lay off an additional 490 by the end of September.

The state Office of Workforce Investments/Higher Education Coordinating Commission received a notice on September 1 from Nike regarding the layoffs of workers that are not represented by a union, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

The move is part of a “mass layoff that began with the separation of approximately 255 workers in July,” the company said in the document.

In June, Nike revealed it would cut 2 percent of its global workforce, estimated at about 1,400 employees as it undergoes a corporate restructure to get products to customers faster and selling to them directly.

In the document dated August 31, Marc Bohn, Nike’s VP for Total Rewards and Human Resources director, stated, “Over the past five years, employment at Nike in Oregon has grown significantly. Between 2012 and 2017, Nike added approximately 3,800 employees in Oregon.”

He added, “In June 2017, we announced that we will be shifting to the Consumer Direct Offense, a new company alignment that allows Nike to better serve the consumer personally, at scale As part of that restructuring, Nike undertook workforce reductions in July and is now implementing an additional round of workforce separations.”

Bohn wrote that its overall Consumer Direct Offense is focused on “putting decision-making closer to the consumer so we can move at the speed of the marketplace” and has led to workforce reductions.

He added, “We presently expect that these workforce reductions will be permanent.”

Those laid off will be notified and offered severance pay on or about Sept. 30, according to the statement. Nike will continue to actively recruit for new jobs in the state of Oregon and the Nike facility at 1 Bowerman Drive in Beaverton will remain open.

As reported by the Oregonian, former employees are venting on social media that that downsizing is largely a cost-cutting move as reportedly many long-time veteran jobs are being affected.

Photo courtesy Nike