Nike will add another 539 jobs in Belgium next year

From 199 to 2,900 employees in 20 years’ time

The company had already announced mid-September that it would hire another 500 people next year, but the board refused to specify the actual number. Persistent European growth now means it will add 539 people to its workforce.

“We will hire 430 people for picking, packing and shipping jobs, who will all work in shifts with an employee contract. On top of that, we want 40 people with bachelor or master degrees, planners, maintenance crew, IT specialists and others”, HR Director Filip Peeters confirmed the numbers yesterday, even though the board only wanted to reveal them today. “We have some 600 temporary employees because of the seasonal rush and we want to award 200 of them a full-time contract.”

Nike has 3 distribution centers on the border of Laakdal and Ham, and another in Herentals, which are responsible for distribution to Western, Eastern and Central Europe. The sporting equipment giant is currently building a warehouse in Ham (Limburg), which should become operational mid-2016 and which will employ 220 people, although that number may also rise in the future.

In 1994, Nike employed 199 people in Belgium, a number that will have risen to 2,361 by the end of this year. With the additional employees, Nike will reach 2,900 people by the middle of 2016.