By Deborah Nnamdi
Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé has announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years as part of a sweeping cost-saving and restructuring programme aimed at revitalizing growth.
The company’s new Chief Executive Officer, Philipp Navratil, disclosed the decision on Thursday while presenting Nestlé’s nine-month financial results, which showed sales down by 1.9 percent to 65.9 billion Swiss francs (about $83 billion).
“The world is changing, and Nestlé needs to change faster,” Navratil said, noting that the plan involved making “hard but necessary decisions to reduce headcount.”
According to the company, the layoffs will include 12,000 white-collar jobs, a move expected to save one billion Swiss francs—twice the amount originally projected. An additional 4,000 job cuts are already underway in production and supply chain departments.
Nestlé has now raised its overall savings target to three billion Swiss francs by the end of 2027, up from a previous goal of 2.5 billion.
The multinational, which owns more than 2,000 brands including Nespresso, Perrier, Kit Kat, and Purina, has faced a series of leadership challenges in recent months. Its former CEO was dismissed in September over an alleged office relationship, followed shortly by the early resignation of the company’s chairman.
Analysts say the restructuring is aimed at restoring investor confidence and stabilizing operations after a turbulent period marked by slowing growth since 2022 and a bottled-water scandal in France that dented consumer trust in 2024.
Despite the drop in total sales, Nestlé reported organic sales growth of 3.3 percent for the first nine months of 2025, largely driven by price increases of 2.8 percent.
Navratil expressed optimism that the reforms will position the company for stronger performance, saying the focus remains on “innovation, efficiency, and long-term value creation.”
