SNKRS, the app Nike built in 2015 to run limited-edition sneaker drops, raffles and launch events, was central to how the company sold hype product directly to collectors. On April 23, 2026, Nike announced its second layoff round of the year — about 1,400 roles, mostly in technology — as part of CEO Elliott Hill's "Win Now" turnaround after the company's third-quarter net income fell 35% to $520 million.
Nike did not disclose how many of those cuts hit SNKRS specifically, but reporting citing people close to the team put the toll at roughly 90% of SNKRS staff across product, engineering, program management and launch operations, fueling speculation the app would be handed off to third-party platforms like Shopify. A principal engineer who had worked on SNKRS since a prior 2026 layoff round described the team as "obliterated" in a public LinkedIn post.
Nike responded to the speculation by saying it remained "deeply committed" to SNKRS, folding the app's engineers into a single team also responsible for the main Nike app, its website and its Nike By You personalization tool, based at company headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. The company gave no figure for how many SNKRS-dedicated staff remained.
Nike absorbed the specialist SNKRS team into a general engineering group amid 1,400 layoffs, betting the app's bot-resistant drops could survive without dedicated staff.
Nike absorbed the specialist team behind its flagship limited-release platform into a general engineering group while cutting headcount company-wide to fix a broader sales and earnings decline.
The company's public reassurance that it remained "committed" to SNKRS came only after media reports and an employee's public post had already raised doubts, rather than getting ahead of the story.
Combining SNKRS with three other product teams removed the dedicated staffing that built the app's reputation for handling high-demand drops, raffles and bot-resistant launches.
Cutting the specialist team behind a product's core function and merging it into a general team is a strategy change to say out loud — not a rounding error to confirm only once outsiders notice.
Nike maintained SNKRS would continue operating with a unified app and engineering team. One former employee told trade press they expected SNKRS to wind down as a distinct business within 12 to 18 months; Nike has not confirmed or denied that timeline.
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