Nike Cutting 500 Jobs at Oregon HQ

Sportswear giant Nike announced today it is laying off 500 workers at its Washington County, Oregon headquarters, as part of 1,750 job cuts.

The layoffs represent 5% of Nike’s 35,000 workers worldwide. The firm is offering severance packages.

Nike is a major publicly traded sportswear & equipment supplier based in Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel, and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of $18.6 billion in fiscal 2008.

Nike has been criticized for contracting with factories in countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico, which violate child labor, minimum wage and overtime laws.