Logo Unilever.
LONDON – Unilever is planning to lay off a third of its employees in Europe by the end of 2025. This efficiency measure is CEO Unilever Hein Schumacher’s strategy to drive the company’s business to continue to grow.
“Currently, for the next few weeks, we will start the consultation process with employees who may be affected by the proposed changes,” said a Unilever spokesperson via email quoted by Reuters, Saturday (13/7/2024).
The plan is to cut 3,200 positions in the company by the end of 2025. The layoffs are also part of Unilever’s global strategy to reduce 7,500 employees as announced in March 2024.
“The number of employees affected by the efficiency in Europe between now and the end of 2025 ranges from 3,000 to 3,200 employees,” said Unilever’s Chief HR Officer, Constantina Tribou.
Unilever’s European Works Council Chairman Hermann Soggeberg called this plan the largest layoffs at Unilever in decades. According to him, it is very inappropriate to use layoffs to boost the company’s productivity.
“Because people who have worked and been productive will now lose their livelihoods,” he said.
CEO Hein Schumacher announced the layoff plan in October last year. He explained that this step had to be taken to regain investor confidence after Unilever’s poor performance in recent years.
In order to restore investor confidence, Unilever has taken steps to transform its business as part of its plan to revitalize growth. In March, the company announced that it would separate its ice cream business, which includes popular brands such as Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s.
Portfolio manager at Oberon Investments said that from the perspective of shareholders, a change of direction is clearly needed in underperforming businesses. “The presence of an activist in the shareholder list is usually a clear indicator of that,” said Jack Martin.
He added that selling the ice cream business is a first step. However, the plan to lay off a third of employees in the coming months indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done to regain the interest of shareholders.
Sumber: Republika
