This 92-Year Old Company Will Fire 1500 Employees: 15% Senior Management Will Be Asked To Leave

Change is the only constant, they say. And in this dynamic business world, you can vanish if you are not evolving. And like anything else in the world, the change is excruciating. It also comes at a cost, can cause collateral damages.

And according to reports, 1500 people will lose their jobs as collateral damage of restructuring at HUL.

1500 people to lose their job amid restructuring at HUL

Recently, Unilever announced that a major organizational restructuring will impact several senior and junior management roles in the organization. The new organization model will lead to a reduction of 15 percent in senior management roles and a 5% reduction in the junior management roles, equivalent to around 1,500 roles globally.

With the new structure, the company will move away from its current matrix structure and will be organized around five distinct business groups of beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice cream. Each of these five business groups will be fully responsible and accountable for their strategy, growth, and profit delivery globally.

The company is witnessing leadership change as well

During this restructuring, HUL is making many changes in the leadership. The company is going to reappoint former Hindustan Unilever (HUL) CEO Nitin Paranjpe, Chief Operating Officer (COO), as Chief Transformation Officer and Chief People Officer. Paranjpe, the company said, will lead the business transformation, and head the HR function now. The executive was CEO of Unilever’s Indian unit HUL and has taken up various leadership roles in the company.

The company also said that its five business groups will be supported by Unilever Business Operations, which will provide the technology, systems, and processes to drive operational excellence across the business.

Alan Jope, the CEO of Unilever, explained, “Our new organizational model has been developed over the last year and is designed to continue the step-up we are seeing in the performance of our business. Moving to five category-focused business groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery. Growth remains our top priority and these changes will underpin our pursuit of this.”

According to a report, Unilever’s move to changes its structure and leadership team comes after a significant stake acquisition by Trian Partners, Nelson Peltz’s activist hedge fund. The hedge fund is known for pushing big firms such as General Electric, Mondelez, and Procter & Gamble to improve and simplify their operations. The report noted that the hedge fund has been pressuring Unilever for major changes as well.