The exact location of the job cuts is yet to be formally decided by the multinational company, which has its headquarters and primary listing in London, the United Kingdom, after abandoning its Anglo-Dutch structure in 2020. A consultation process is starting over the next few weeks with affected employees, Unilever said in a statement.
Hermann Soggeberg, chairman of Unilever’s European works council, said almost all European office locations would be equally affected but particularly the corporate centres in London, and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
Employees listening to the call expressed anger in the live comments system during the question-and-answer session, in which one executive suggested staff should put their energy into the business rather than dwelling on the uncertainty and anxiety.
“Instead of wasting it in the anxious thoughts, let’s put our great energy in serving our customers and consumers and really making this business great. That is what is in our control,” the 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.
Hein Schumacher, who replaced Alan Jope as chief executive of Unilever one year ago is under pressure from shareholders, chief among them Peltz, to shake up the company and boost growth after years of lacklustre financial performance.
The company announced in March that it would hive off its icecream division in a bid to boost growth. The Netherlands-based division — which makes up 16% of group sales and includes brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Wall’s — was lagging behind faster-growing categories such as beauty and wellbeing.
Unilever also announced it would cut 7500 jobs globally, without specifying where the job cuts would be carried out. Unilever employs about 128,000 people around the world.
Analyst Bruno Monteyne said that most companies in the consumer goods sector were engaged in cost-cutting programmes, so investors were unlikely to notice much of a change. However, the size of the cuts risked causing disruption just as the company embarked on its turnaround.
“Unilever has always made a big thing out of employee morale, and the fact that people want to work there. So that element of their purpose-driven company will probably suffer for a while,” he said.
Unilever’s shares were broadly unchanged in London trading on Friday, closing up 0.6% to £44.31 ($94). Its shares have rallied since it announced the restructuring this year.
Soggeberg said the works council, which fights for employee rights, was liaising with management on a consultation to establish where the job cuts would be carried out and to establish how to minimise the losses.
Some people who are let go could be reassigned to new roles in the icecream business once it is spun off “in order to reduce the number of affected colleagues”, Soggeberg said.
“We will not be able to safeguard every job, but we need to safeguard every person,” he added. “It’s the biggest restructure we have seen in the last decade. This is shocking for the people.”
A Unilever spokesperson said in a statement: “In March, we announced the launch of a comprehensive productivity programme, to drive focus and growth through a leaner and more accountable organisation”.
The spokesperson added: “We recognise the significant anxiety that these proposals are causing amongst our people. We are committed to supporting everyone through these changes, as we go through the consultation process.”
Written by: Madeleine Speed
© Financial Times