Food and beverage giant Nestlé has announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years as part of a sweeping restructuring strategy aimed at improving efficiency and refocusing investment on high-performing brands.
The job cuts will include 12,000 white-collar roles in management and office positions and an additional 4,000 roles across manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain departments. The move comes amid a decline in profitability and shareholder pressure following sluggish growth and falling share prices.
According to the company, the restructuring will help Nestlé redirect resources toward its strongest-performing segments notably coffee, confectionery, and premium goods while conducting strategic portfolio reviews of its water, premium beverage, and supplements businesses.
Nestlé’s share price has dropped by around 35% since 2022, while sales growth reached just 2.2% in 2024, one of its weakest performances in years. However, a slight rebound was recorded in 2025, with growth climbing to 3.3% in the first nine months of the year.
Reported net sales for the same period totaled CHF 65.9 billion (€70.96bn), down 1.9% year-on-year, largely due to exchange rate fluctuations. Rising trade barriers, such as the U.S. 39% import tariff on Swiss goods, have also added pressure to margins.
Despite the cuts, Nestlé expects to achieve annual savings of approximately CHF 1 billion, contributing to a total cost-savings target of CHF 3 billion by 2027.
“Management have grand ambitions to bring Nestlé back to where it has historically been, but for now the company is a work in progress,” said Chris Beckett, consumer staples analyst at Quilter Cheviot.
Management shake-up amid restructuring
Nestlé’s overhaul comes on the heels of significant management upheaval. Former CEO Laurent Freixe was dismissed in September for breaching the company’s code of conduct after failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a subordinate. Shortly afterward, long-time chairman Paul Bulcke stepped down earlier than planned, succeeded by former Inditex CEO Pablo Isla.
Following Freixe’s departure, Philipp Navratil took over as CEO and spearheaded the restructuring initiative, stating that Nestlé must “change faster” to stay competitive.
Despite the internal turmoil, the company’s latest financial report exceeded expectations, showing a 1.5% increase in real internal growth during the third quarter well above analyst forecasts of 0.3%. The announcement of the restructuring also sparked a surge of over 8% in Nestlé’s stock price by midday on Thursday.
Analyst Beckett added that the company’s renewed focus and financial discipline may soon pay off: “Full-year guidance has been reaffirmed. We should see ongoing sales growth improvement with an operating margin of 16% or better. 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.”
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