Nestle To Cut 16,000 Jobs, Most White Collar, Over Two Years
Nestle SA’s new CEO will cut 16,000 jobs, three-quarters of them white collar, by the end of 2027 to save CHF 1 billion ($1.25 billion) annually by 2027, the company revealed in its third-quarter earnings report today.
“Nestle needs to change faster,” said Philipp Navratil, who’s held the top job just since Sept. 1, after a scandal involving then-CEO Laurent Freixe. “This will include making hard but necessary decisions to reduce headcount over the next two years… We are working to substantially reduce our costs, and today we are increasing our savings target to CHF 3.0 billion by the end of 2027.”
Nine-month sales were CHF 65.869 billion, that’s CHF 1.3 billion lower than in 2025. Zone Americas, which includes U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, was down an identical CHF 1.3 billion, but the Asia-Oceania-Africa business and Nestle Health Science also contributed slightly to the decline. The European and Nespresso businesses were up a tiny bit, and Waters was flat.
“Greater China continues to be a drag,” today’s report said. “New management is now in place and executing our plan to transform this business.”
Net income or profitability for nine months was not included in the report.
“The actions we are taking will secure Nestlé’s future as a leader in our industry,” Navratil concluded.
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.