Nestlé will lay off 16,000 employees worldwide — about 6% of its workforce — over the next two years as part of a major restructuring plan aimed at cutting costs and driving growth. The reductions include 12,000 white-collar positions and 4,000 manufacturing and supply chain roles.
“The world is changing and Nestlé needs to change faster,” said new CEO Philipp Navratil, who took over after the dismissal of Laurent Freixe last month. Navratil plans to save 3 billion Swiss francs (£2.8 billion) by 2027, boosting investment in innovation and automation while fostering a “performance-driven” culture.
Nestlé, which owns KitKat, Nescafé, and Purina, employs about 4,200 people in the UK. The company would not say where cuts will occur but confirmed efforts to streamline operations.
The announcement came alongside a 1.9% drop in reported sales to 65.9 billion francs for the first nine months of the year, due mainly to currency effects. Organic growth rose 3.3%, led by coffee and confectionery.
Analyst Chris Beckett said the new CEO is taking “bold, necessary action” to restore Nestlé’s growth, adding that while progress is underway, “the company remains a work in progress.”
