Heineken cuts 8,000 jobs in sobering company restructure
Dutch brewer Heineken said it was cutting around 8,000 jobs following a review of its operations launched in October.
The cuts will lead to a total restructuring charge of around €420m and savings on personnel expenses of around €350m.
The brewer, which also owns brands Sol, Desperados and Amstel, has been hit hard by the pandemic, and first started cutting costs last April, following a 14 per cent drop in beer sales in March.
Following a tough year, which saw pubs closed for months as a result of coronavirus restrictions, Heineken saw a net loss of €204m.
Consolidated beer volume at Heineken decreased 8.1% organically for the full year.
New CEO Dolf van den Brink said: “The impact of the pandemic on our business was amplified by our on-trade and geographic exposure. We took diligent cost mitigation actions, balanced with continue investment against our growth platforms.”