Nestle, the food giant behind Lean Cuisine, Nespresso, and Hot Pockets announced Thursday that it will cut 16,000 jobs over the next two years, part of a sweeping plan to “accelerate its turnaround” and save roughly $3.8 billion by 2027. The cuts represent about 6% of Nestlé’s global workforce, marking one of the company’s largest restructurings in decades.
New CEO Philipp Navratil, who took over in September, said the move is about speed and focus. “Nestlé has not been the most efficient company in the past,” he told investors, adding that the goal is to make the Switzerland-based firm “an agile company that takes decisions fast and drives impact.”
Roughly 12,000 corporate positions will be eliminated, with another 4,000 from manufacturing and supply chain. Navratil made it clear this is not a symbolic move — it’s cultural surgery. “We intend to be ruthless in assessing our talent,” he said. “Those who perform stay. Those who don’t, don’t.”
The message underscores a broader shift at Nestlé after several turbulent years. Navratil is the company’s third CEO in just over a year, following the ouster of Laurent Freixe over an undisclosed relationship with a subordinate. Freixe had started tightening Nestlé’s focus on fewer, higher-performing brands and investing more heavily in marketing. Navratil says he’ll double down on that plan — but move faster.
“Accepting that we lose market share is no longer an option,” he told investors.
Nestlé’s turnaround effort comes amid tough industry headwinds. Inflation and global uncertainty have dented consumer spending, while rising coffee and cocoa prices — exacerbated by new U.S. tariffs — have squeezed margins. On top of that, shoppers are increasingly drifting toward less-processed foods, a shift that has challenged legacy packaged goods makers across the board.
Despite those pressures, the company’s third-quarter growth improved to 4.3%, up from 2.9% earlier in the year. North America, one of its largest markets, saw modest organic growth of 0.4%.
Still, Navratil insists that incremental progress isn’t enough. Nestlé will review its entire portfolio, including its vitamin and water divisions, to determine what stays and what goes. “We’re looking at every business with an open mind,” he said.
The CEO emphasized that automation and simpler internal structures will play a major role in the reset. “Our scale and breadth bring advantages,” he said, “but they also bring complexity — and that creates inefficiencies. We can be faster, leaner, and more effective.”
In other words, Nestlé’s next phase isn’t about growing bigger. It’s about getting sharper — and proving that even a century-old global giant can still move like a startup when it needs to.
Source: FoodDive