Affected like many other companies by the pandemic, the Danone group announced a savings plan of one billion euros in 2023.
Consequence: the group plans around 1,500 to 2,000 job cuts, including 400 to 500 in France, in global and local headquarters.
A quarter of the workforce could be cut in the world headquarters.
A decision that is made to adapt the company to the consequences of the health crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
This plan, called “Local First”, provides for the implementation of a local organization by zones, which replaces a global organization by categories, in order to be as close as possible to the realities and specificities of the various markets.
"For this, our entities in the countries will no longer be subservient to a global organization by category, but united in a single local operational unit, to play with power and efficiency on the whole range of local specificities to gain in capacity to serve our customers. and our consumers, ”Danone explained.
"This transformation is necessary"
In this context, Danone indicates that it is studying the merger of its world headquarters in Paris with that of Rueil-Malmaison, in Hauts-de-Seine, where the teams from the France headquarters are currently located.
“This transformation is necessary because we are right now in this paradoxical situation where, on the one hand, our action framework“ One Planet.
One Health ”, anchored in our portfolio of healthy, sustainable food products and brands, is made even more relevant in the current situation, but on the other hand, we are not in a position to take full advantage of current developments. opportunities they represent, nor to respond optimally to its challenges, ”explained Emmanuel Faber, the group's boss.
Thanks to this plan, the agrifood group expects a return to profitable growth from the second half of 2021, and a return of the current operating margin to its pre-COVID level, at more than 15%, in 2022.
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The exceptional costs related to the implementation of the new organization are estimated at around 1.4 billion euros for the period 2021-2023, Danone said.
Other levers will also be activated.
According to Danone, these savings include "new sources of industrial productivity, making it possible to reduce the cost of products sold by 300 million euros, as well as a drop in general and administrative expenses of 700 million euros, representing around 20% of the company's structural costs.
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