MW P&G becomes the latest consumer giant to cut jobs, with 7,000 employees set to be fired

By James Rogers

Brand divestments also a feature of what Procter & Gamble CFO Andre Schulten describes as a 'restructuring program'

Procter & Gamble Co. will lay off thousands of workers, the parent company of such household brands as Pampers, Gillette, Crest and Tide said Thursday, becoming the latest consumer-goods giant to cut jobs.

Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer Conference in Paris, Procter & Gamble $(PG)$ Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said that the company expects to reduce its workforce by up to 7,000 roles, or approximately 15% of its current nonmanufacturing workforce.

Procter & Gamble expects that the cost of the workforce reduction will be between $1 billion and $1.6 billion before taxes. The CFO described the cuts as a "restructuring program," according to a FactSet transcript.

"We see more opportunities to make growth broader and teams smaller, making work more fulfilling, faster and more efficient, leveraging digitization and automation opportunities," Schulten said.

P&G's stock ticked up 0.1% in premarket trading, to put it on track to snap a three-day losing streak.

In a statement Procter & Gamble said that the plan will be implemented over the next two fiscal years, and will include a divesting of some brands. "Specific impacts by region or site are not available at this time," P&G said.

The company said it plans to provide more details when it reports its fourth-quarter results in late July.

Another top consumer-goods conglomerate, P&G rival Unilever PLC $(UL)$ (UK:ULVR) (UL), said in March that it had made 6,000 cuts under a plan to reduce its workforce by 7,500. The London-headquartered Unilever's brands include Dove, Vaseline and Ben & Jerry's.

Procter & Gamble's move comes at a challenging time for consumer goods. In April the company cut its earnings outlook amid worries about higher prices from tariffs and a slowing economy. The company also said that the consumer has hit "pause," citing an increasingly "volatile" economic environment.

At the Deutsche Bank conference in Paris, Schulten said that "market level challenges" have increased in fiscal 2025 and pointed to higher volatility in consumer and retail environments. "The point of volatility impacting our business [has] only increased as the current year has progressed," he said, noting that category growth rates U.S. have slowed from around 4% last calendar year to about 2%, and some European markets have seen similar trends."We're closely watching China to see if trade tensions and lower exports disrupt the slow recovery we have been seeing," the CFO said, adding that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the war between Ukraine and Russia continue to weigh on consumers.

Schulten explained that the worldwide tariff scheme introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump in April has meant additional volatility. "We're watching closely, including direct costs from moving raw materials and finished products across borders, impacts on foreign exchange and interest rates, and potential impacts of nationalistic consumer behavior," he added.

Procter & Gamble's stock has fallen 1% in 2025 through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, of which the stock is a component, has eased 0.3%.

-James Rogers

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 05, 2025 08:13 ET (12:13 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.