Heineken to cut 6,000 jobs as beer demand falters

Global brewer, Heineken, yesterday, said it would cut up to 6,000 jobs from its global workforce and set lower expectations for profit ⁠growth in ⁠2026 than a year earlier as it grapples with weak demand and rising costs.

The second biggest brewer by market value has promised to deliver higher growth with less resources as it looks to assuage investors who said it has fallen behind on efficiency.

This is coming right after the surprise January resignation of its current Chief Executive Officer, Dolf van den Brink, leaving the company scrambling for a new CEO.

Also, sales across the sector are faltering ⁠amid strained consumer finances, geopolitical turbulence and bad weather.

The company said this ⁠productivity drive will unlock savings and reduce its global head count by 5,000 to 6,000 positions over the next two years, roughly seven per cent of its global workforce of 87,000 people.

The company’s head of finance, Harold van den Broek, added that they are doing this to strengthen operations and to be able to invest in growth.

There are fears that Nigeria would be impacted as the company revealed that the cuts would be focused on non-priority markets offering fewer growth prospects. He added that further cuts would also result from previously announced initiatives targeting Heineken’s supply network, head office and regional business units.

Outgoing-CEO van den Brink, who steps down in May, said there was ⁠no update on the brewer’s search for a successor.

Along with weak demand, brewers are facing long-term declines in beer sales in some key markets, dented by issues such concerns over the health impact of alcohol consumption.

Heineken expects slower profit growth for 2026 of between 2 and 6 per cent against the 4 to 8 per cent growth it guided for last year.

The brewer reported forecast-beating annual organic operating profit, which grew 4.4 per cent last year versus analyst expectations for 4 per cent.

Heineken Nigeria, primarily operating through Nigerian Breweries Plc, has faced major operational, financial and reputational challenges, including a 79 per cent surge in losses to N85.2 billion in the first half of 2024 due to naira devaluation, high inflation and FX volatility. The company reported a massive N106 billion loss in 2023, the biggest in its 77-year history. The company closed two plants and also restructured due to diminished consumer spending. Despite several price increases to offset inflation, Heineken has faced declining demand for its products.