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Food and beverage giant the Swiss conglomerate has declared it will eliminate 16,000 jobs over the next two years, as its new CEO Philipp Navratil advances a plan to prioritize products offering the “highest potential returns”.

The Swiss company must “evolve at a quicker pace” to stay aligned with a dynamic global environment and embrace a “performance mindset” that does not accept ceding ground to competitors, the executive stated.

He took over from former CEO Laurent Freixe, who was terminated in September.

The job cuts were disclosed on the fourth weekday as the corporation announced improved performance metrics for the first three-quarters of 2025, with higher sales across its major categories, including coffee and sweets.

The biggest food & beverage firm, Nestlé operates numerous brands, including well-known names in coffee and snacks.

Nestlé aims to get rid of 12,000 professional jobs in addition to four thousand other roles across the board during the next biennium, it announced publicly.

The lay-offs will result in savings of the corporation about 1bn SFr (£940m) each year as a component of an sustained expense reduction program, it said.

Nestlé's share price increased 7.5% following its quarterly update and restructuring news were announced.

Mr Navratil stated: “We are cultivating a corporate environment that embraces a achievement-oriented approach, that refuses to tolerate losing market share, and where winning is rewarded... The marketplace is evolving, and the company requires accelerated transformation.”

Such change would involve “tough but required actions to cut staff numbers,” he added.

Market analyst an industry specialist said the report signalled that Nestlé's leader seeks to “bring greater transparency to areas that were formerly less clear in Nestlé's cost-saving plans.”

These layoffs, she said, are likely an effort to “recalibrate projections and rebuild investor confidence through tangible steps.”

His forerunner was sacked by the company in the beginning of the ninth month following a probe into reports from staff that he did not disclose a personal involvement with a immediate staff member.

The company's outgoing chair Paul Bulcke accelerated his leaving schedule and stepped down in the identical period.

Sources indicated at the moment that shareholders blamed the outgoing leader for the company's ongoing problems.

Last year, an inquiry found infant nutrition items from the company available in low- and middle-income countries had undesirably high quantities of sugar.

The analysis, conducted by non-profit organizations, established that in several situations, the same products sold in wealthy countries had no added sugar.

• Nestlé manages numerous product lines globally.
• Layoffs will involve 16,000 workers throughout the upcoming biennium.
• Savings are anticipated to amount to CHF 1 billion annually.
• Share price rose 7.5% after the announcement.