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Global consumer goods leader the Swiss conglomerate has declared it will remove sixteen thousand roles within the coming 24 months, as its new CEO Philipp Navratil pushes a strategy to prioritize products offering the “greatest profit margins”.

The Swiss company has to “evolve at a quicker pace” to remain competitive in a dynamic global environment and embrace a “results-oriented culture” that refuses to tolerate ceding ground to competitors, according to the CEO.

He replaced former CEO Laurent Freixe, who was dismissed in September.

These workforce reductions were disclosed on Thursday as the corporation announced stronger revenue numbers for the first nine months of 2025, with higher sales across its key product lines, including coffee and sweets.

The biggest consumer packaged goods corporation, Nestlé operates a multitude of labels, like Nescafé, KitKat and Maggi.

Nestlé aims to eliminate 12,000 white collar positions on top of 4,000 further jobs company-wide during the next biennium, it announced publicly.

The lay-offs will save the food giant about CHF 1 billion each year as a component of an ongoing cost-savings effort, it said.

Its equity price increased 7.5% following its trading update and job cuts were made public.

The CEO stated: “We are cultivating a culture that embraces a achievement-oriented approach, that refuses to tolerate market share declines, and where winning is rewarded... The marketplace is evolving, and Nestlé needs to change faster.”

The restructuring would involve “hard but necessary actions to reduce headcount,” he added.

Equity analyst a financial commentator stated the announcement indicated that Nestlé's leader seeks to “enhance clarity to sectors that were previously more opaque in the company's efficiency strategy.”

The workforce reductions, she said, appear to be an initiative to “adjust outlooks and restore shareholder trust through concrete measures.”

Mr Navratil's predecessor was terminated by the company in early September following a probe into internal complaints that he did not disclose a romantic relationship with a immediate staff member.

Its departing chairman the ex-chairman moved up his leaving schedule and left his post in the same month.

It was reported at the period that investors blamed the former chairman for the company's ongoing problems.

In the prior year, an investigation found Nestlé baby food products marketed in low- and middle-income countries had unhealthily high levels of added sugars.

The research, by a Swiss NGO and the International Baby Food Action Network, determined that in numerous instances, the identical items available in developed nations had no extra sugars.

• Nestlé operates a wide array of brands internationally.
• Job cuts will impact 16,000 employees throughout the upcoming biennium.
• Expense cuts are estimated to reach 1bn SFr each year.
• Stock value climbed significantly post the update.