World's biggest food company slashes 16,000 jobs amid rising costs

The world's biggest food company has announced it will slash 16,000 jobs over the next two years to keep pace with a "changing" business climate. Swiss-based Nestle will roll out the measures in a bid to cut costs and develop a "performance mindset", new CEO Philipp Navratil said in a statement. The majority of the layoffs, around 12,000, will impact "white collar professionals", some of whom will be replaced by automated and shared services, the firm behind KitKat and Nesquik confirmed.

The remaining 4,000 job losses will relate to roles in manufacturing and the supply chain, Mr Navratil said, with the overall cuts amounting to 6% of Nestle's total workforce. The consumer goods giant, which currently employs around 277,000 employees around the world, estimates that it will save over £940 million (one billion Swiss francs) each year by 2027 as a result of the reductions.

Mr Navratil replaced former boss Laurent Freixe after he was dismissed following an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship with an employee last month.

He said: "The world is changing, and Nestle needs to change faster. This will include making hard but necessary decisions to reduce headcount over the next two years. We will do this with respect and transparency.

"The actions we are taking will secure Nestle's future as a leader in our industry. Collectively, they will enable us to improve our overall performance and deliver shareholder value."

The new chief executive added that under his leadership, the company would be "prioritising the opportunities and businesses with the highest potential returns".

Nestle unveiled the slew of job cuts on Thursday, as it reported sales of £61.5 billion (65.9 billion Swiss francs) in the first nine months of 2025, 1.9% lower than the same period a year ago despite a 2.8% increase in prices.

Coffee, sweets and chocolate sales were the biggest areas of growth, with prices rising by more than 10% in some markets.

Details were not provided on how the job cuts would impact individual countries including the UK.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell warned that the layoffs would boost financial gains but risked alienating remaining staff.

"Nestle's new CEO might have made more enemies than friends since taing the top job in September," he told PA. "[The job cuts] will double previous annual savings targets, but it doesn't bode well for staff morale."