Hundreds of Heineken jobs at stake as pandemic pressures results
The coronavirus pandemic is also hitting Heineken and the Dutch beer giant is looking to cut costs. The brewer wants to reduce personnel costs at its head office and regional offices by 20 percent, which means hundreds of jobs are at risk, Heineken announced at the presentation of its third quarter figures on Wednesday, RTL Nieuws reports.
Exactly how many jobs will be lost is not yet clear, a Heineken spokesperson said to the broadcaster. But several hundred seems a reasonable estimate. The head office and regional offices employ around 1,700 people, the majority of whom are in the Netherlands.
The reorganization will start in the first quarter of 2021. Heineken promised not to implement any major reorganizations this year.
Whether layoffs will be limited to office staff only will depend on the outcome of a "strategic review", the spokesperson said to RTL. Heineken employs 85 thousand people worldwide.
Heineken saw its profits plummet by 76 percent in the first 9 months of 2020. Though the brewer still made a net profit of 396 million euros. Full and partial closures of catering establishments during lockdowns worldwide were a blow to the brewer.
