How many employees does Nike have? Headcount by year from its 10-K

This page is for sellers sizing Nike as an account, recruiters, analysts and anyone who needs a Nike headcount they can cite. Every figure comes from NIKE, Inc.'s annual report on Form 10-K, its quarterly report on Form 10-Q and its current reports on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC. Nike's fiscal year ends on May 31, so fiscal 2026 ran from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026.

Nike employees by year

Each 10-K gives the figure as "approximately", rounded to the nearest hundred; the changes are our arithmetic. Nike reports headcount once a year. Its 10-Q for the quarter ended August 31, 2026, filed October 2, 2026, doesn't give one, so the next count is the fiscal 2027 10-K, due in July 2027.

What the number includes

• Retail and part-time staff. The 10-K says: "As of May 31, 2026, we had approximately 73,000 employees worldwide, including retail and part-time employees." That covers staff in Nike-owned stores, part of Nike Direct, but the filing doesn't split them out.
• Not contractors or temps. "We also utilize independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement our workforce," the same section says. They aren't in the 73,000.
• Not the factories. "Nearly all of our products are manufactured by independent contractors," the 10-K says. At May 31, 2026, contract manufacturers operated 95 finished footwear factories in 11 countries and 321 apparel factories in 34. Their workers aren't Nike employees.
• Every brand and region. One global figure covers the NIKE Brand, Jordan Brand and Converse. Nike doesn't publish a US-only headcount or a split by geography. Most employees aren't represented by unions, except certain employees in EMEA and Asia Pacific and Latin America, where local law or collective agreements apply.

What changed and why

• Fiscal 2022 and 2023: growth to 83,700. Headcount rose 10,400 in two years as revenue reached $51.2 billion in fiscal 2023.
• Fiscal 2024: a first restructuring. "During the third quarter of fiscal 2024, management streamlined the organization which resulted in a net reduction in the Company's global workforce." Nike recorded $443 million of restructuring charges, $392 million of it employee severance. Year-end headcount fell 4,300.
• Fiscal 2025: smaller again. Revenue fell 10%, to $46.3 billion, and headcount fell 1,600.
• Fiscal 2026: a second round. In an 8-K filed March 5, 2026, Nike said a plan approved on February 27, together with earlier actions, would bring pre-tax charges of about $300 million for the nine months to February 28, "primarily associated with employee severance costs." The 10-K describes the aim as "realigning costs across our supply chain and technology." For the year Nike recognized $385 million of severance, and "the majority of these charges were classified within Global Brand Divisions, North America and EMEA." Headcount fell 4,800.
• October 2026: Pace. An 8-K filed October 1, 2026 announced a multi-year program that "includes and builds upon" the March plan. Nike expects about $1.0 billion of pre-tax charges, "primarily" employee severance and related costs, about $0.3 billion of them in fiscal 2027 and the rest through fiscal 2031, with about $2.5 billion of cumulative savings. The program includes "the establishment of a new campus in India" and a move in fiscal 2028 to three geographies: the Americas, Asia Pacific and Greater China, and EMEA.

Nike's filings give charges in dollars, not a number of roles. Figures for job cuts that appear in news coverage don't come from the 10-K or the 8-Ks, so this page doesn't use them.

Revenue per employee

Fiscal 2026 revenues were $46,398 million. Divided by the year-end headcount, that's $46,398 million ÷ 73,000 = about $635,600 per employee (our calculation).

Because the count includes part-time store staff, compare this ratio only with other brands that run their own stores, and only on the same basis.

By geography, North America brought in $20.5 billion of fiscal 2026 revenue, EMEA $12.6 billion, Asia Pacific and Latin America $6.2 billion and Greater China $5.8 billion, down 11%. Converse revenue fell 31%, to $1.2 billion. Sales to wholesale customers were $27.5 billion of NIKE Brand revenue. The 10-K doesn't split employees by region, so per-region ratios aren't possible.

Selling to a company of Nike's size

General guidance on how a global consumer brand of 70,000 people buys, not a description of Nike's internal processes.

• Read the cost program. Pace targets the supply chain, the organization structure and overhead. Offers that cut cost or simplify work fit it; offers that add headcount or complexity will wait.
• Watch the reorganization. A move to three geographies in fiscal 2028 means budgets and decision rights shift between regional and global teams. Confirm who owns a budget before you plan an approach.
• Separate retail from corporate. Store operations, wholesale and the corporate functions at headquarters buy different things on different cycles.
• Expect brand and legal review. Anything consumer-facing goes through brand, legal and privacy checks.

For a routine on an account this size, see enterprise account research, and for the wider sector our guide to selling to retailers. Reaching the right budget owner during a reorganization is covered in how to find decision makers.

Next step: compare Nike with another global consumer brand on our Starbucks employee count page.