• Nestlé announces plans to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide, affecting mainly white-collar roles.
• The CEO aims to save one billion Swiss francs and raise savings targets to three billion by 2027.
• The company faces challenges with declining sales and a need for operational transformation.

Swiss food giant Nestlé revealed plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs globally over the next two years, with 12,000 of these being white-collar positions, as part of a broader strategy to improve profitability. This decision comes from new CEO Philipp Navratil, who mentioned, "The world is changing, and Nestlé needs to change faster," highlighting the necessity of "hard but necessary decisions" to adapt the company to current market conditions, according to India Times, Le Monde, and Channel News Asia.

This job reduction initiative is expected to save Nestlé one billion Swiss francs, double the amount previously planned, and is part of a larger goal to achieve savings of three billion Swiss francs by 2027. Navratil's efforts follow a turbulent period in September that included the ousting of the last CEO over an office relationship, leading to significant management changes, according to CBS News and Los Angeles Times.

The announcement also corresponded with a report showing a 1.9% decline in sales to 65.9 billion Swiss francs ($83 billion), despite achieving a 3.3% organic sales growth driven largely by price increases. This reflects ongoing challenges Nestlé faces, including a bottled water scandal that originated in France in 2024, adding pressure to the company's turnaround efforts, according to India Times, Le Monde, and CBS News.

Navratil indicated that the company needs to stabilize and adapt its approach to future growth, contending that "we will be ruthless in assessing our people.” He emphasized real internal growth as a priority and noted that decisions to streamline operations will include evaluating all brands and product lines, building on strategies initiated by his predecessor. This aggressive approach could restore investor confidence after a challenging period for the company, as stated in reports by Los Angeles Times and Channel News Asia.