Navratil, who was tapped to lead the $270-billion food conglomerate last month, unveiled plans to slash 16,000 jobs globally over the next two years to cut costs, streamline operations, and make the company more agile and responsive.
Based in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé is behind some of the world’s best-known food brands such as Nestlé, KitKat, Nespresso, and Maggi.
Cuts include 12,000 white-collar roles
“Historically, we have avoided being fully transparent about these changes, and I want to be transparent. We plan a reduction of 12,000 white-collar professionals across functions and geographies over the next two years,” Navratil said during an earnings call detailing the firm’s nine-month performance on Oct. 16, 2025.
“In addition, we plan a further 4,000 headcount reduction as part of our ongoing productivity initiatives in manufacturing and supply chain,” he added.
During the same briefing, chief financial officer Anna Manz said ongoing transformation efforts will save the firm 700 million Swiss francs this year.
Job cuts to boost 3 billion Swiss francs in savings
Manz said the cuts were related to their “fuel for growth” cost-savings program.
“The business transformation [Navratil] described will lead to a planned reduction in our white-collar headcount,” Manz said.
“This will deliver a billion of annual savings, which is 500 million more than our original plan and takes our fuel-for-growth savings target to 3 billion by the end of 2027. These additional savings will be reinvested—more fuel for driving growth,” she added.
Nestlé has a significant PH presence
Nestlé has over 5,000 workers in the Philippines and operates five manufacturing sites in Cabuyao, Tanauan, Lipa, Cagayan de Oro, and Pulilan.
These plants produce powdered and liquid beverages, milk products and ice cream, nutrition and health science products, and cooking aids and prepared dishes, its 2024 annual report showed.
The company’s Philippine sales reached 2.7 billion Swiss francs in 2024, or about P190 billion.
Slower sales in first nine months of 2025
Nestlé reported sales of 65.9 billion Swiss francs in the first nine months, down 1.9 percent, with organic growth rising 3.3 percent on the back of 0.6 percent real internal growth and 2.8 percent pricing.
The uptick was broad-based across all regions and product categories, led by strong gains in coffee and confectionery, which delivered double-digit increases in several markets.
“What we want to do today, and hence also the announcement we have done today on headcount, is really become an agile company—a company that takes decisions fast, drives impact, and leverages its scale when it comes to how we work. We want to become more digitalized, more automated, faster in decision-making, and scale our shared service centers globally,” Navratil said.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
