Unilever recently informed employees that it will reduce a third of office-based jobs in Europe by the end of 2025
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Sharleen Dsouza
Mumbai
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) will closely assess the global initiatives of its parent under the productivity programme and evaluate what works best for its business and people, said the company.
The statement from HUL comes after its parent Unilever recently told its employees that it will cut a third of office-based jobs in Europe by the end of 2025.
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“We will closely assess the global initiatives of Unilever under the productivity programme and evaluate what works best for our business and our people,” HUL told Business Standard.
“In HUL, we have been continuously transforming to unlock productivity. For instance, we have a very robust cost-saving programme called Symphony that we have been driving for many years. Through an end-to-end focus across all lines of the P&L (profit & loss), we have been generating gross savings of around six per cent of turnover every year,” the company said. In FY24, its turnover stood at Rs 59,579 crore.
In March, Unilever announced the launch of a comprehensive productivity programme to drive focus and growth through a leaner and more accountable organisation. Unilever has started the consultation process in Europe with employees who may be impacted by the proposed changes.
The Financial Times reported last week that the global consumer major’s new CEO, Hein Schumacher had planned this move to boost growth at the company. This move will cause 3,200 roles to be cut across Europe and is part of the cost savings programme announced in March which included as many as 7,500 jobs.
Earlier this year, Unilever also announced that it was planning to separate the ice cream business to accelerate growth as it intends to simplify its portfolio and save costs.
“Following separation, Unilever will become a simpler, more focused company, operating four business groups across beauty & wellbeing, personal care, home care and nutrition,” it had said in a release.
During its annual general meeting held last month, HUL’s non-executive chairman, Nitin Paranjpe told shareholders that the team in India would assess the situation and hold discussions with the board, which will form a view on what is in the best interest of the company.
“We will have discussions with the Unilever global team and arrive at a decision, which will be in the best interest of each. That decision is yet to be made,” he said while answering questions from shareholders.
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