Nestlé to cut 16,000 jobs globally
Food and beverage giant Nestlé has announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years.
These include 12,000 white-collar positions in management and office roles, and 4,000 additional roles within manufacturing, logistics and supply chain departments.
The layoffs form part of a broader effort to streamline Nestlé’s workforce and focus investment on high-performing brands and products with strong potential returns, such as coffee, confectionery and premium goods.
The next step will be to complete strategic portfolio reviews of its water and premium beverage businesses, as well as its vitamins and supplements brands.
Nestlé’s restructuring aims to improve profitability and efficiency amid mounting pressures. The firm’s share price has fallen by about 35 per cent since 2022. Sales growth increased by only 2.2 per cent in 2024, its weakest figure in years, although this rose to 3.3 per cent in the first nine months of 2025.
Reported net sales, affected by exchange rates, came to CHF 65.9 billion (€70.96 billion) in the first nine months of 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, rising external costs and trade barriers continue to squeeze margins, including the United States’ recent 39 per cent import tariff on Swiss goods.
Still, the company expects the job cuts to generate annual savings of approximately 1 billion Swiss francs and contribute to an increased total cost-savings target of 3 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2027.
“Management have grand ambition to bring Nestlé back to where it has historically been, but for now the company is a work in progress,” explained Chris Beckett, consumer staples analyst at Quilter Cheviot.
Nestlé has also faced a period of management turmoil. Its former Chief Executive Officer, Laurent Freixe, was dismissed in September for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a subordinate, which violated the company’s code of conduct.
Two weeks later, long-time chairman Paul Bulcke stepped down earlier than planned, and former Inditex CEO Pablo Isla was appointed as his successor.
Following Freixe’s dismissal, Philipp Navratil was named the new CEO. It was Navratil who introduced the restructuring drive, arguing that Nestlé needs to “change faster” to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving global market. He considers a “performance mindset” a priority to retain market share.
Despite the management upheaval, the company reported stronger-than-expected financial results for the first nine months of 2025. Its organic sales increased across key categories, driven by higher prices in core items such as Nescafé coffee, KitKat chocolate and Maggi cooking products.
In the third quarter of 2025, Nestlé recorded a 1.5 per cent increase in real internal growth, far above analyst expectations of 0.3 per cent.
Investors responded positively to the restructuring announcement, with Nestlé’s stock price rising over 8 per cent by midday on Thursday.
The company remains optimistic, projecting stronger organic sales growth compared to 2024.
“Full-year guidance has been reaffirmed, so we should see ongoing sales growth improvement with an operating margin of 16 per cent or better. The shares trade at a discount to the wider sector, and this reflects the turnaround story the business is on. A few more quarters like this one may just help complete that story and put the company back on a trajectory of high-quality growth,” said Beckett.
