Unilever denies planning to cut thousands of jobs

CONSUMER products giant Unilever yesterday distanced itself from reports that it was planning to shed thousands of management jobs.

The Anglo-Dutch group, which last week rocked investors with a profits warning, said it was not planning “a big jobs cull” as part of moves to simplify its operations around the world.

Speculation that Unilever was preparing for major job cuts followed its announcement on Monday that it was accelerating a reorganisation of the company.

The group, whose products include Magnum ice cream, Lipton iced tea, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Dove soap, took action after summer trading failed to meet expectations.

Poor weather was blamed for lowering demand for ice cream and iced tea, while weak consumer confidence affected the performance of many of its other key brands.

A spokesman said the company was looking to trim its 250,000 global workforce through natural wastage and voluntary redundancy, although compulsory job losses had not been ruled out.

Irish-born chairman Niall FitzGerald, who will retire on Thursday, said in 1999 the company was seeking 6% to 8% annual growth from its leading brands.

But its half-year results in July revealed sales to be flat, while last week’s update pointed to a further deterioration in trading with margins likely to be lower than a year earlier.

Unilever has confirmed that its SlimFast brand could be sold following a sharp decline in sales, primarily in the United States, where the craze for the low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet has eaten into its market share.