Nestlé cuts 16,000 jobs despite rising sales

The world’s largest food company Nestlé wants to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over two years. This was announced by the new boss Philipp Navratil. Nestlé was able to accelerate its growth significantly in the third quarter. The company is on track to achieve its annual targets. In total, Nestlé had sales of around 65.87 billion francs (70.88 billion euros) in the first nine months of 2025, as the group announced. This corresponds to organic growth of 3.3 percent – ​​more than analysts expected.

In the third quarter, organic growth was 4.3 percent, after 3.0 percent in the previous quarter. This again resulted, on the one hand, from price increases of 2.8 percent.

At the same time, Navratil is putting the brakes on costs. Of the 16,000 jobs that will be cut over two years, around 12,000 will be for office workers in various functions and regions, which is expected to bring annual savings of one billion francs by the end of 2027. A further 4,000 jobs are to be cut as part of productivity initiatives in production and the supply chain.

“The world is changing – and Nestlé needs to change faster,” said Navratil. This also included difficult but necessary decisions that would involve reducing the workforce over the next two years. “Together with other measures, we are working to significantly reduce our costs and are today increasing our savings target to three billion francs by the end of 2027.”

Navratil took over the leadership position from Laurent Freixe at short notice a month and a half ago. He was fired after a year in office because of a secret relationship with an employee and allegations of favoritism. Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Bulcke also left early and handed over to the previous Vice President Pablo Isla.

The expectations for Navratil and Isla are high. After years of weak growth and leadership errors, the duo should bring more dynamism again and push the pace.