Ben & Jerry’s maker Unilever is planning to cut up to 3,200 jobs across Europe by the end of next year, after unveiling plans to make the business leaner and more productive. The consumer goods giant earlier this year said it was preparing to axe around 7,500 jobs, amounting to about 6% of its global workforce.
Details of the cuts have now emerged as the company kicks off a consultation process with its staff. Unilever told senior executives on Wednesday that it was expecting a net reduction of between 3,000 and 3,200 roles in Europe by the end of 2025, according to details of a company-wide call shared with the Financial Times (FT).
The reductions are expected to primarily affect office-based jobs, rather than those at its factories, which include sites in Gloucester and Burton in the UK.
Unilever employs about 128,000 employees in countries around the world, including 6,000 in the UK. Its global headquarters is in Blackfriars in London.
A spokesperson for the business confirmed that over the next few weeks it would be consulting with employees who may be affected by the changes.
“We recognise the significant anxiety that these proposals are causing amongst our people,” the spokesperson said. “We are committed to supporting everyone through these changes, as we go through the consultation process.”
Unilever – which owns dozens of household name brands from Cornetto, Marmite and Pot Noodle to Dove, Comfort and Persil – unveiled its plans for an overhaul in March.
It said it wanted to become more productive and focused on doing fewer things better. It is hoping to save around 800m euros (£672m) over the next three years.
According to reporting to the FT, Unilever said almost all its European office locations would be equally affected but particularly the corporate centres in London and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.