The world’s biggest packaged food company, Nestle, is to cut 16,000 jobs in the next two years, it announced on Thursday.
The cuts around the world come as the company said it was “automating” its processes and increasing focus on “operational efficiency”.
Losses will primarily be in white-collar, professional parts of the business, with 12,000 roles to go. Around 4,000 manufacturing and supply chain jobs are to be lost, Nestle said.
Money blog: New ready meals costing up to £30 launched
There will be a consultation on the roles to be axed “where applicable”, the announcement read.
The company is behind brands such as Nescafe, Cheerios, KitKat, and Rolos.
What about the UK?
UK suffers blow in bid to become minerals superpower – as it’s snubbed by its own leading firm
Be bold with tax hikes or risk ‘groundhog day’, chancellor told as limited growth recorded
Money blog: New ready meals costing up to £30 launched; warning about ‘despicable’ texts scam
The impact on Nestle’s British workforce was not clear from the corporate announcement.
When contacted by Sky News, a spokesperson said, “At this point in time, we are not in a position to give concrete figures for individual markets.”
Its market update said the reductions will be “across functions and geographies”.
There are Nestle factories, distribution centres and offices across England, Scotland and Wales but the company said it didn’t know how many staff it employed there.
Worldwide, it employs 277,000 people.
Savings from the cull are said to save roughly £934m a year.
It’s new chief executive, Philipp Navratil, said the number of staff will be reduced “with respect and transparency”.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
