The world’s biggest packaged food company, Nestle, is to cut 16,000 jobs in the next two years, it announced on Thursday.
The cuts around the world come as the company said it was “automating” its processes and increasing focus on “operational efficiency”.
Losses will primarily be in white-collar, professional parts of the business, with 12,000 roles to go. Around 4,000 manufacturing and supply chain jobs are to be lost, Nestle said.
There will be a consultation on the roles to be axed “where applicable”, the announcement read.
The company is behind brands such as Nescafe, Cheerios, KitKat, and Rolos.
The impact on Nestle’s British workforce was not clear from the update.
When contacted by Sky News, a spokesperson said, “At this point in time, we are not in a position to give concrete figures for individual markets.”
Its market update said the reductions will be “across functions and geographies”.
There are Nestle factories, distribution centres and offices across England, Scotland and Wales but the company said it didn’t know how many staff it employed in the UK.
It employs 277,000 worldwide.
Savings from the cull are said to save roughly £934m a year.
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