Employees anxious as Unilever may cut 3,200 EU office roles amid investor pressure and profit slump

15 Jul 2024 --- Unilever is reportedly cutting a third of all office roles in Europe by the end of 2025 in a profits push by the CEO. The FMCG giant told senior executives on Wednesday that 3,200 office jobs will be made obsolete.

The move is part of CEO Hein Schumacher’s plan to gain investors’ confidence after the multinational company underperformed in the past few years. Schumacher joined the company last year and laid out company growth plans in October after receiving pressure from shareholders, including activist investor Nelson Peltz.

The push comes amid Unilever’s net profit dropping 15% last year to €6.5 billion (US$7.09 billion), with sales flatlining after the company increased prices in response to higher costs.

A Unilever spokesperson said: “We are now, over the next few weeks, starting the consultation process with employees who may be impacted by the proposed changes.”

Reducing staff to increase profit
The cuts are part of a productivity program announced in March that included as many as 7,500 layoffs worldwide. 

The company employs approximately 128,000 people globally, with 10,000 to 11,000 office-based staff in Europe, and seeks to save 800 million euros (US$870 million) over the next three years.

Unilever CEO, Hein Schumacher.However, Reuters reports that Hermann Soggeberg, the head of Unilever’s European Works Council, said it was a misnomer to call the cuts a “productivity programme,” as people who had worked and been productive were now set to lose their livelihoods.

“These measures mean the biggest job cuts in Unilever for decades,” he said in a letter. The cuts are said not to include jobs based in factories.

The location of the job cuts has yet to be decided, but Soggeberg reports that almost all European office locations would be equally affected, with particular attention paid to London, UK and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

“The expected net impact in roles in Europe between now and the end of 2025 is in the range of 3,000 to 3,200 roles,” Constantina Tribou, chief of human resources officer, said during a video call.

Backlash from employees
The Financial Times reports that employees listening to the call expressed anger in the live comments system during the question-and-answer session. One executive suggested that staff should put their energy into the business rather than “dwelling on the uncertainty and anxiety.”

“Instead of wasting in the anxious thoughts, let’s put our great energy in[to] serving our customers and consumers and really making this business great. That is what is in our control,” an executive said.

“I am honestly so disappointed if that is the view for employees — how is that acceptable?” wrote one employee. “Complete failure to read the room and shows zero awareness of how people feel on the ground,” wrote another.

“We recognize the significant anxiety that these proposals are causing amongst our people,” said a Unilever spokesperson.

By Sabine Waldeck