US Softlines Retail: UBS Evidence Lab inside: Glassdoor Data Strong For LEVI, RL

Research evidence excerpt

US Softlines Retail: UBS Evidence Lab inside: Glassdoor Data Strong For LEVI, RL

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moving to 3.67 from 3.94 in 2025 and 4.26 in 2024 (Fig. 14, 30). The story is similar for serge.severenchuk@ubs.com

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Nike. While the magnitude of the decrease in its Overall Rating and Business Outlook

score haven't been as dramatic as LULU’s, both metrics are still moving in the wrong

direction (Figs. 13, 14, 34). In fact, Nike's Overall Rating of 3.90 was its lowest in the 11

years of data we have from Glassdoor. Nike's peak Overall Rating was 4.22 in 2023.

Business Outlook inflects higher for select names:

Kohl’s posts a +36% y/y increase in Business Outlook—the highest in the dataset—

while Victoria’s Secret (+4%) and Macy’s (+3%) also improve (Fig. 4). Notably, Kohl’s

and Victoria’s Secret now rank at the top of absolute Business Outlook scores (~3.84–

3.89), above the sector average of 3.60 (Figure 3). This divergence between improving

outlook and still-average absolute ratings suggests early-stage sentiment recovery,

which could precede operational improvement but remains uneven across the group.

LEVI performed well with respect to talent and employee engagement:

Levi Strauss (4.12) materially outperformed the sector average of 3.38 in Compensation

& Benefits (Fig. 7), demonstrating leadership in talent retention. Levi’s is also strong in

the “Recommend to a Friend” category (Fig. 9). The combination of high compensation

satisfaction and strong advocacy suggests a reinforcing loop where leading brands

continue to attract and retain higher-quality labor, potentially supporting superior long-

term execution.

UBS Evidence Lab analyzed current employee reviews from Glassdoor:

Glassdoor is a leading careers website. The analysis measures current employee attitudes