THE boss of Nike has blamed staff working from home for failing to come up with exciting new designs that wow shoppers.
CEO John Donahoe says a sales slide was mostly down to the creative malaise.
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He said: “It turns out, it’s really hard to do bold, disruptive innovation, to develop a boldly disruptive shoe on Zoom.
“What’s been missing is the kind of bold, disruptive innovation that Nike’s known for and when we look back, the reasons are fairly straightforward.”
His comments come as adidas has been stealing its market share while newer brands, such as On Running and Hoka, are already nibbling at Nike’s heels.
The boss of JD Sports, Regis Schultz, last month blamed Nike’s lack of product innovation for weaker sales.
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As creative staff worked from home for two and half years, the brand — slogan Just Do It — had been relying on its familiar swoosh symbol on its Air Max, Dunks and Air Force Ones.
But Nike ordered staff back into the office 18 months ago.
Mr Donahoe, 63, believes that had reinvigorated the brand, saying: “We have been ruthlessly focused on rebuilding our disruptive innovation pipeline.”
He is the latest boss to backpedal on the shift to home working. Big banks, such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, have been vocal critics.
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Even Zoom, which provided the video technology to work from home, called staff back to work because it was easier to solve issues and innovate when people were “in the same room”.
Elon Musk banned working from home after taking over Twitter, now X, while Amazon said staff working from home would miss out on promotions.
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Boots last month ordered staff back to the office five days a week, declaring it a “more fun and inspiring place” when it was fully attended.
