Carlsberg to slash workforce
13 Nov 2015
Carlsberg announced plans to cut 2000 jobs this week as it revealed a DKr4.499bn (£425m) net loss in the third quarter.
The Danish brewer said the cuts would affect white collar staff globally, representing 15% of its workforce.
Acknowledging the fact that the profit development of recent years has not been satisfactory, we are taking further steps to prepare the Carlsberg Group for the future
Carlsberg CEO, Cees ‘t Hart
Challenging conditions in its Russian and Chinese operations had significantly contributed to its third-quarter loss, the company said.
“Acknowledging the fact that the profit development of recent years has not been satisfactory, we are taking further steps to prepare the Carlsberg Group for the future,” said Carlsberg chief executive Cees ‘t Hart.
Following the recent decision by Tesco to delist the Carlsberg brand, some of the job losses are also expected within the UK at Carlsberg’s Northampton brewery, Leeds office and 12 regional customer distribution depots.
“The recent delisting at a major retailer has further added to the challenges and led to under-absorption of costs in our operations,” the company said.
“Consequently, we have communicated the intent to refocus and restructure the business with the aim to reduce capacity and costs.”
A new interim chief executive has been appointed for the UK business, to drive this process, the company said.
