The global food giant Nestlé said Thursday that it would shed about 16,000 jobs over the next two years, accelerating a cost-cutting program six weeks after the company fired its chief executive.
Philipp Navratil, who took over as chief executive last month, announced the changes as part of a wider move to cut 3 billion Swiss francs, or $3.7 billion, in spending by 2027. A previous plan called for 2.5 billion francs in cuts over the same time frame.
“The world is changing, and Nestlé needs to change faster,” Mr. Navratil said in a statement. “This will include making hard but necessary decisions”
Nestlé, which counts Nespresso, KitKat, Toll House, Perrier and Purina among its 2,000 brands, is based in Switzerland and employs some 277,000 people around the globe. It said that increased automatization and sharing services among divisions would compensate for the lost workers.
The cuts will affect workers around the world, with 12,000 of them being white-collar jobs, the company said.
Nestlé has been seeking to cut costs in the face of stalling growth and a drop in demand from China, which has led to increased pressure from investors.
President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports to the United States, including a levy of 39 percent on Swiss goods, added further challenges. The United States is Nestlé’s largest market.
Shares of Nestlé rose more than 8 percent in trading in Zurich, as investors welcomed the moves after months of turmoil in the company’s leadership.
Mr. Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, took over for Laurent Freixe, who was forced out over an undisclosed relationship with a subordinate, which the company said was a breach of its code of conduct. Nestlé’s chairman, Paul Bulcke, stepped down two weeks later and was replaced by Pablo Isla, the former chairman of the Spanish apparel company Inditex.
On Thursday, the company reported a 4.3 percent increase in sales for the third quarter, driven by higher prices and overall sales volumes.
Nestlé maintained its growth outlook for 2025, expecting an improvement in sales from the previous year despite the negative effects of tariffs and exchange rates, which include the weakening of the U.S. dollar.
Melissa Eddy is a Times reporter based in Berlin who reports on Germany’s politics, businesses and economy.
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