Unilever to cut 1,500 management jobs

Unilever unveiled plans on Tuesday to cut about 1,500 management jobs in an overhaul aimed at easing shareholders’ concerns after a failed takeover bid and news that an activist investor had built a stake in the consumer goods giant.

The maker of Dove soap and Magnum ice cream, which employs about 149,000 people around the world, said on Tuesday it would organise its business into five new divisions – beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice cream.

“Our new organisational model has been developed over the last year … Moving to five category-focused Business Groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery,” CEO Alan Jope said.

As part of the new set-up, Hanneke Faber, President Foods & Refreshment, has been named President Nutrition, which will be home to Scratch Cooking, Healthy Snacking, Functional Nutrition, Plant-Based Meat, and Food Solutions. Matt Close, EVP Ice Cream, has been appointed President Ice Cream, now a business group in its own right.

In addition, Chief Operating Officer Nitin Paranjpe will take on a new role as Chief Transformation Officer & Chief People Officer, leading the business transformation, and heading the HR function.

Unilever, whose shares have fallen about 13 per cent over the past year, last week effectively abandoned plans to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business for £50 billion.

The announcement also comes days after reports that activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners had been building a stake in the world’s second biggest personal care products maker.