The Nike logo is seen in the Nike store on February 22, 2021 in New York.
John Smith | Corbis News | Getty Images
Nike has set a five-year roadmap for creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce, the company announced Thursday, as corporate America is increasingly responsible for their values and the actions that come with them.
For the first time, Nike said, it will also link executive compensation to the company, making progress in deepening diversity and inclusion in the entire workforce, protecting the planet and advancing ethical production. He did not provide further details, but said the compensation will be linked to achieving its 2025 targets.
“We are proud of the successes we have seen, but we know that the work is just beginning,” said President and CEO John Donahoe in a letter addressing the five-year goals. “We are also redefining what responsible leadership looks like.”
Highlighting the progress made by Nike in 2020, the sneaker manufacturer said it has increased the representation of women globally in its business to 49.5% from 48% in 2015. Representation of racial and ethnic minorities, meanwhile, at the level of vice president in the United States States rose to 29% last year from 15.9% in 2015. Nike also pointed out that its 2020 intern class was the most diverse of all time, with 55% of those 310 of its trainees were women and 49% representing racial and ethnic minorities.
By 2025, Nike said, it aims to achieve a 50% representation of women in the global corporate workforce (which does not include workers in retail stores and warehouses) and 45% representation of women in management positions (level of vice president and over). Until then, it aims to represent 35% of racial and ethnic minorities in its US workforce.
Nike also said it will invest $ 125 million over the next five years to support companies working on “fair conditions” and tackling racial inequalities.
Last year, after the assassination of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Nike was one of many corporations that went after a social justice movement and committed to serving communities with a more diverse workforce. In June, he announced a $ 140 million pledge on behalf of the Nike and Jordan brands and former NBA star Michael Jordan to support companies that help educate and promote black Americans.
“Our brand would not be what it is today without the strong contributions of black athletes and black culture,” Donahoe said in the letter.
Nike has faced its share of criticism in recent years, however, for the way it treats both women and black employees.
At the end of July 2018, it announced wage increases for more than 7,000 workers and pledged to change the way it grants annual bonuses to its global staff, in an attempt to address concerns about pay equity and corporate culture.
A year later, she began reviewing the terms of new contracts to support female athletes during pregnancy, after being criticized for reducing the pay of female celebrities with children.
Nike said its 2020 pay equity data showed that for every $ 1 earned by men globally, women earned $ 1. And for every $ 1 earned by white U.S. employees, racial and ethnic minority employees earned and $ 1, he said.
By 2025, Nike is committed to maintaining 100% pay equity at all levels of employees, on an annual basis.
Read the full Nike impact report here.